Pezdek And Roe's Argumentative Analysis

Previous studies suggest that it is relatively easy to change memories, especially in children, with misinformation. However, they do not test how difficult it is to plant or completely erase memories. Researchers Kathy Pezdek and Chantal Roe wanted to find out whether psychologists could generalize the findings supporting the idea that children’s memories were highly susceptible to change with implantation and erasing, which would have further lessened the reliability of children’s testimonies in abuse cases. Pezdek and Roe tested the hypothesis that implanting or erasing memories in children was easy, which was generalized from the already proven claim concerning changing memories. The hypothesis seems to be reasonable, as forming or forgetting …show more content…
Since the experiment could not ethically commit acts of abuse, interviews and surveys of victims would be the most effective way to gauge whether emotional severity has an impact on the planting or erasing of memories. Another way could involve showing violent scenes or images rather than the innocuous pictures that the experimenters showed in order to mimic the deep impact that could make memories susceptible to change, though that may also have ethical …show more content…
Since the presentation of information can directly impact one’s memories, it is important for studies to be unbiased in their experiments and use neutral language. By asking misleading questions to unsuspecting individuals, it is suggested that an event occurred in one way over another. Authorities can take advantage of the influence that suggestively worded questions have during interrogations in order to manipulate suspects into confessing their alleged crimes. Along with the misinformation effect, source amnesia is another source of false memories. It involves the misattribution of an experience to its source, such as a witness to a crime overhearing police saying that the suspect had a gun, and then during questioning saying that they actually saw a gun. The witness thought that the source of the memory was from observing the crime and seeing a weapon, but it was actually because someone else said it and they incorporated it into their memory. Both the misinformation effect and source amnesia can discredit eyewitness testimony, which makes it important, especially in the justice system, to not manipulate the memories of witnesses and