The misinformation effect is a change in the accuracy of memory of events caused by information provided to people after the event.
The type of memory affected is called episodic memory.
Elizabeth Loftus is a leading memory researcher whose studies influence what we know about the permanence and reliability of memory.
A classic experimental model involves presenting an event to participants followed by a specific time period. Then the participants are tested for their memory of the original event.
In other studies, researchers planted false memories, which many participants recalled and were confident these memories were true rather than false.
Many participants have recalled horrible false memories as part of carefully designed studies. These studies offer cautions to falsely accusing people of abuse and harassment and other crimes reported by eyewitnesses or even people convinced of the accuracy of their memory.
"We can't reliably distinguish true memories from false memories." (Loftus, 2013).
To learn more about faulty memory, see this talk by professor Elizabeth Loftus.
"Memory works a little bit more like a Wikipedia page: You can go in there and change it, but so can other people." Loftus (2013)
"Misinformation is everywhere." (Loftus, 2013)
"...we should all keep in mind...that memory, like liberty, is a fragile thing." (Loftus, 2013)
References
Loftus, E. (2013, September 23). How reliable is your memory. TED. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PB2OegI6wvI&index=21&list=PLFJ58a4FdeDHW97b7N1fWF8vqS4Victhf
Loftus, E. F., Miller, D. G., & Burns, H. J. (1978). Semantic integration of verbal information into a visual memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 4(1), 19–31. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.4.1.19
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