Exposure to misleading post-event information can result in impaired memory for the original event. Two theoretical mechanisms (i.e., retrieval blocking and source misattribution) have been proposed as explanantions for the occurrence of the misinformation effect. The impact of context on the occurrence of these errors has been examined to determine if changing the context between events reduces the misinformation effect. Previous findings indicate that context plays a different role in each of these mechanisms; however, experimental differences in the paradgms used to examine retrieval blocking and source misattribution have made comparisons between these mechanisms difficult. The present study examined the role of context in eyewitness memory using the same materials, manipulations, and procedures to determine if context does, in fact, have a different impact on these mechanisms. Results indicate that changing the context between events reduces the occurrence of source misattribution but does not ameliorate the impact of retrieval blocking.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:MSSTATE/oai:scholarsjunction.msstate.edu:td-5333 |
| Date | 30 April 2011 |
| Creators | Douglass, Matthew Reed |
| Publisher | Scholars Junction |
| Source Sets | Mississippi State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Theses and Dissertations |
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