Award Winner
Most Methodologically Rigorous
Document Type
Research Paper
Abstract
Extensive research has been conducted recently concerning a phenomenon known as the misinformation effect. The misinformation effect occurs when new, misleading information is introduced to a person after a witnessed event and this new information changes the memory of the original event. Most of the studies have been conducted in laboratory settings, but in a study by Ferguson (1997) a natural, classroom setting was used. The current study also utilizes the classroom setting and seeks to determine whether the sex of the person introducing the misinformation can have an effect on the magnitude of the misinformation effect. Fifty-five high school students were participants in this study. The misinformation effect occurred when the female introduced misinformation about the video. When the female speaker introduced the misinformation, participants correctly recalled what they saw in the video 37% of the time, and when the male or neutral speaker introduced the misinformation, participants correctly recalled what they saw in the video 78% of the time. This difference is significant with n=0.0001. However, the misinformation effect did not occur when participants were asked to recall what they read in the transcript. When the female speaker introduced the misinformation, participants correctly recalled what they read in the transcript 89% of the time, and when the male or neutral speaker introduced the misinformation, participants correctly recalled what they read in the transcript 74% and 72%, respectively, of the time. This difference is not significant with n=0.358.
Publication Date
1998
Journal Title
Conference Proceedings: Undergraduate Social Science Research Conference
Volume
2
Issue
1
First Page
229
Last Page
242
Copyright
©1998 by the University of Northern Iowa
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Publisher
University of Northern Iowa
City
Cedar Falls, IA
Recommended Citation
Prust, Christine
(1998)
"The Effects of Sex Biases in the Misinformation Effect,"
Conference Proceedings: Undergraduate Social Science Research Conference: Vol. 2:
Iss.
1, Article 33.
Available at:
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/csbsproceedings/vol2/iss1/33
