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Disrupting the encoding of misinformation delivered in closed specific and open presumptive questions

Version 2 2024-06-03, 14:20
Version 1 2015-02-11, 14:17
journal contribution
posted on 2024-06-03, 14:20 authored by Stefanie SharmanStefanie Sharman, C Boyd, MB Powell
To determine whether the encoding of misleading information presented in two different types of leading questions (closed specific and open presumptive questions) could be disrupted, participants took part in a misinformation experiment. They viewed an event before answering questions that had a closed specific structure (e.g. “Did the robber have a shotgun that had a black barrel and a brown stock?”) or an open presumptive structure (e.g. “Tell me about the shotgun”). Half the questions contained misleading information and half did not. For some of the questions, participants completed a concurrent distractor task. Finally, they completed a recognition memory test about the original event. Results showed that the concurrent distractor task during the interview reduced the size of the misinformation effect for the closed specific questions, but had no impact on the misinformation effect for the open presumptive questions. The results suggest that open presumptive questions encourage participants to encode and process the misleading information more deeply than the closed specific questions. The misinformation effect was more difficult to disrupt with a concurrent task during the encoding of the misleading information for open presumptive questions than for closed specific questions. The implications for interviewing are discussed.

History

Journal

Psychiatry, psychology and law

Volume

22

Pagination

535-541

Location

Abingdon, Eng.

ISSN

1321-8719

eISSN

1934-1687

Language

eng

Publication classification

C Journal article, C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2014, The Australian Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law

Issue

4

Publisher

Routledge