Suggestibility

Suggestibility is a cognitive bias where a person's memory or perception can be influenced by external information, leading to the incorporation of inaccurate details into their memories or beliefs. This bias often occurs when individuals are exposed to misleading information after an event, which can reinforce or alter their recollections.

How it works

Suggestibility operates by altering the recall of memories through external suggestions. When individuals are exposed to new or suggestive information, they may unintentionally integrate these details into their existing memories. This bias can occur due to social influences, persuasive communication, or authoritative sources providing misleading information, enhancing the susceptibility to altered or fabricated memories.

Examples

• Eyewitnesses to a crime incorrectly recall details after being exposed to leading questions during police interviews.
• Consumers misremember products they have seen due to persuasive advertising techniques.
• Patients recalling false childhood experiences after suggestive therapeutic interventions.

Consequences

Suggestibility can lead to significant errors in memory recall, impacting judicial outcomes, consumer behavior, and even personal beliefs about past experiences. Misremembered events can result in wrongful convictions, distorted views of reality, and compromised decision-making processes.

Counteracting

To counteract suggestibility, it is essential to increase awareness of this bias and implement strategies that minimize exposure to misleading information. Techniques such as cognitive interview methods in legal settings, skepticism towards leading questions, and verification of facts before forming memories can help reduce its impact.

Critiques

Critiques of suggestibility often mention the difficulty of completely eliminating this bias due to the complex nature of human memory and the influence of social contexts. While awareness can reduce its effects, the involuntary nature of memory alteration presents challenges in fully mitigating suggestibility.

Fields of Impact

Also known as

Relevant Research

• Planting misinformation in the human mind: A 30-year investigation of the malleability of memory.

  Loftus, E. F. (2005)

  Learning & Memory

• A picture is worth a thousand lies: Using false photographs to create false childhood memories.

  Wade, K. A., Garry, M., Read, J. D., & Lindsay, D. S. (2002)

  Psychonomic Bulletin & Review

• How to tell if a particular memory is true or false.

  Bernstein, D. M., & Loftus, E. F. (2009)

  Perspectives on Psychological Science