The reversed eyewitness suggestibility effect

Abstract

The standard temporal order of events used in studies of eyewitness suggestibility was reversed: Misled subjects were given verbal suggestions about a visual scene before witnessing it. As in the standard procedure, the subjects were later tested on memory of the visual scene. A suggestibility effect was obtained with this reversed procedure, even though the verbal information could not “update” the target memory because no memory of the visual scene existed when the misleading suggestions were given. © 1989, The Psychonomic Society, Inc.. All rights reserved.