THINKER'S ALMANAC - October 16

How is human memory more like a Wikipedia page than a videotape?

Subject:  False Memories/Misinformation Effect - Loftus’ Crash Study

Event:  Birthday of Elizabeth Loftus, 1944

We all have memories that are malleable and susceptible to being contaminated or supplemented in some way. -Elizabeth Loftus

Possibly no person in history besides Herman Ebbinghaus (1850 – 1909) (See Thinker’s Almanac - January 19) has done more to help us understand human memory than cognitive psychologist Elizabeth Loftus.

Loftus, who was born on this day in 1944, conducted seminal experiments in the 1970s that have helped us understand that memory isn’t just about what we forget or what we remember; it is very much about what we remember that never happened.

In her experiments, Loftus would show her subjects a short film of a car accident.  She would then ask the subjects a question, such as how fast were the cars going when they “hit” each other, or how fast were the cars going when they “smashed” into each other.  What she discovered was that the difference of just one verb in a question altered a witness's estimate of the speed.  When she used the word “hit,” witnesses estimated the speed was 34 mph, but when she used the word “smashed,” the estimate was 41 mph.

                                                            Image by Marcel Langthim from Pixabay 

Furthermore, when the witnesses were later asked whether or not they had seen any broken glass, the group of witnesses who had been asked the “smashed” question were twice as likely to report broken glass than the witnesses who were asked the “hit” question.  In reality, there had been no broken glass in the film.

Loftus’ experiments reveal the fact that our memory is not a videotape that simply records sights and sounds, rather it is more like a Wikipedia page, which can be altered by ourselves or by others.  The misinformation effect is the tendency for our memories to be altered by information that we encounter after an initial memory.  Memory, therefore, isn’t just about whether or not we are able to accurately recall past events; it is also how memory is influenced and altered by information we receive after an initial memory is formed.

This understanding of the true nature of memory is especially important for courts of law where the memory of eyewitnesses can be subtly influenced by the word choice of the questions they are asked.  Based on her research into false memory and the misinformation effect, Loftus has testified in hundreds of court cases, helping juries to understand the malleability and fallibility of human memory.

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason:  What is the misinformation effect, and how did the experiments by Elizabeth Loftus demonstrate the malleability of memory?

Challenge - Jury Duty PSA:  Write a public service announcement aimed at citizens who will be participating in jury duty.  Explain the way memory truly works and how the misinformation effect might impact the way witnesses recall their testimony.

ALSO ON THIS DAY:

October 16, 1758:  Writing in the Boston Globe in 2009, lexicographer Erin McKean presented the following imaginative and idealistic vision for Dictionary Day, the day that celebrates the birthday of the one man synonymous with the dictionary, Noah Webster (1758-1843):

 

. . . small children placed their dictionary stands by the hearthstone, hoping that Noah himself would magically come down the chimney and leave them a shiny new dictionary (left open to the word “dictionary,” of course). In some places, Dictionary Day is celebrated with bonfires of the past years’ dictionaries, the baking of the traditional aardvark-shaped cookies, and the singing of etymology carols (2).

 

Noah Webster was born in Hartford, Connecticut on October 16, 1758. He went on to graduate from Yale and to work as a lawyer. His most noteworthy work, however, came as a school teacher. Unhappy with the curriculum materials he was given to teach, he created his own uniquely American curriculum: A three-part Grammatical Institute of the English Language. It included a spelling book, a grammar book, and a reader.  Webster served in the student militia at Yale during the Revolutionary War. He never saw combat, but while he never fought in the literal battle for independence from Britain, he was a key player in the battle to make American English independent from British English. His spelling book, known as the "Blue-Backed Speller," became one of the most popular and influential works in American history. Only the Bible sold more copies.  According Bill Bryson in his book The Mother Tongue, Noah’s spelling book went through at least 300 editions and sold more than sixty million copies. Because of the wide use of his spelling book and his dictionary published in 1828, Webster had a significant impact on the spelling and pronunciation of American English. His dictionary contained more than 70,000 words, and it was the most complete dictionary of its time (3).

Sources: 

1-Cherry, Kenra “The Misinformation Effect and False Memories.” Verywellmind.com 4 Oct. 2020.

2-McKean, Erin.  Celebrate:  The Case for Dictionary Day.  Boston Globe 18 October 2009.

3-Bryson, Bill. The Mother Tongue. New York: Perennial, 1990.