[Sigia-l] False memories
Ziya Oz
listera at earthlink.net
Wed Dec 6 21:39:11 EST 2006
"Mem'ries, may be beautiful and yet
What's too painful to remember
We simply choose to forget"
Calm down, this is really not about Barbra Streisand, but about the role of
interactivity in fostering false memories in users. In an upcoming research
paper, Ann Schlosser conducts an experiment to compare the impact of a
static text/picture website vs. an interactive one for consumer product
research. The results, to the extent you agree with the methodology, are
interesting:
Two experiments examined the effect of interacting with a virtual object
(i.e., object- interactivity) on true and false memories. Although
object-interactivity will likely improve memory of associations compared to
static pictures and text, it may lead to the creation of vivid
internally-generated recollections that pose as real memories. Consequently,
compared to information conveyed via static pictures and text,
object-interactivity may cause people to falsely recognize more
non-presented features. The results support these hypotheses and provide
converging evidence that this false recognition effect is due to using
imagery during retrieval and is robust, emerging regardless of individuals¹
goals (to search or browse) or learning intent.
[...]
Prior research has shown that imagery-evoking tools can enhance learning.
This article contributes to this by demonstrating that although
imagery-evoking tools can enhance learning, they can also increase false
memories. Specifically, although object-interactivity improved memory of
associations compared to a picture site, it led to proportionally more false
positives. In fact, these effects were robust, emerging in spite of
individuals¹ goals and learning intent.
...when determining whether an attribute was presented at the site,
individuals retrieve and search their stored image for this attribute.
During this process, however, they may reconstruct this image, thereby
believing that their visualization of the absent attribute means that it was
actually presented. This is especially likely to occur when the image is
vivid (i.e., for those who visited the object-interactive site). Supporting
this prediction, the results demonstrate that encouraging the use of imagery
during retrieval led to more false positives being made by those who visited
the object-interactive than picture site, whereas discouraging the use of
imagery during retrieval eliminated this effect. These findings have
important theoretical and managerial implications. For example, others have
argued that direct experience can create an illusory sense of competence...
...These findings suggest that marketing managers should test their
campaigns for both true and false memories. Although it may seem
advantageous for consumers to believe that a product has features that it
actually does not have (e.g., by increasing store visits and purchases), it
may ultimately lead to customer dissatisfaction. Because false memories
reflect source-monitoring errorsor believing that absent attributes were
actually presented in the marketing campaignconsumers who discover that the
product does not have these attributes will likely feel misled by the
company.
<http://faculty.bschool.washington.edu/aschloss/articles/schlosser%20jcr%202
006.pdf>
Ziya
Nullius in Verba
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