The Impact of Presenting Misleading Postevent Information

Understanding the Misinformation Effect

Presenting misleading postevent information is a concept within the field of psychology, specifically cognitive psychology, that refers to the ability of information presented after an event to influence or change a person's memory of the event itself. It's a well-documented phenomenon known as the 'misinformation effect' that was extensively studied by psychologist Elizabeth Loftus.

Implications in Eyewitness Testimonies

For instance, if a person witnesses a car crash (the event), and afterwards is given false information (the misleading postevent information) that a blue car was involved when it was actually a red car, they can end up 'remembering' a blue car at the scene of the accident, even though this is incorrect. This phenomenon has significant implications particularly in the realm of eyewitness testimony in legal scenarios.