Side- and similarity-biases during confidence conformity

Memory conformity may develop when people are confronted with distinct memories reported by others in social situations and knowingly/unknowingly adhere to these exogenous memories. Earlier research on memory conformity suggests that (1) subjects were more likely to conform to confederate with high confidence; (2) subjects with low confidence on their memory accuracy were more likely to conform, and; (3) this subjective confidence could be adjusted by social manipulations. Nonetheless, it remains unclear how the confidence levels of ours and others may interact and produce a combined effect on our degree of conformity. More importantly, is memory conformity, defined by a complete adoption of the opposite side, the result of a gradual accumulation of subtler changes at the confidence level, i.e., a buildup of confidence conformity? Here, we followed participant’s confidence transformation quantitatively over three confederate sessions in a memory test. After studying a set of human motion videos, participants had to answer simultaneously whether a target or lure video had appeared before by indicating their side (i.e., Yes/No) and their associated confidence rating. Participants were allowed to adjust their responses as they were being shown randomly-generated confederates’ answers and confidence values. Results show that participants indeed demonstrated confidence conformity. Interestingly, they tended to become committed to their side early on and gain confidence gradually over subsequent sessions. This polarizing behaviour may be explained by two kinds of preferences: (1) Participant’s confidence enhancement towards same-sided confederates was greater in magnitude compared to the decrement towards an opposite-sided confederate; and (2) Participants had the most effective confidence boost when the same-sided confederates shared similar, but not considerably different, confidence level to theirs. In other words, humans exhibit side- and similarity-biases during confidence conformity.

The intoxicated co-witness: effects of alcohol and dyadic discussion on memory conformity and event recall

Rationale Co-witness discussion is common and often witnesses are under the influence of alcohol. As such, it is important to understand how such factors may influence eyewitness testimony. Objectives We combined a co-witness memory paradigm with an alcohol administration paradigm to examine the influence of alcohol and dyadic discussion on remembering a mock crime. Methods Intoxicated and sober dyads discussed a previously seen video, whilst in a control condition sober and intoxicated individuals recalled the event on their own. Unknown to the dyads, each discussion partner saw a different version of the video including unique details not present in the other video version. All participants then engaged in a second individual recall attempt. Results Dyads were more likely to recall misleading details in their individual recall attempts compared to the control group. Intoxicated and sober dyads were equally likely to report misleading information. Alcohol intoxication had no negative impact on individuals’ ability to correctly identify the source of their responses. Intoxicated participants recalled fewer details under free recall conditions. Alcohol had a detrimental effect on participants’ confidence in their free recall accounts. Conclusions Possible alcohol-related and social-cognitive mechanisms are discussed which may contribute to the current findings as well as applied implications for interviewing intoxicated witnesses.

Side- and similarity-biases during confidence conformity

Memory conformity may develop when people are confronted with some divergent memories of others in social situations and knowingly/unknowingly incorporate these exogenous memories into their owns. Earlier research suggests that memory conformity is more prominent in subjects who bear low confidence towards their memory accuracy. Nonetheless, it is unclear whether and how this subjective confidence may likewise be influenced by the confidence levels of others. Here, we followed participant’s confidence transformation quantitatively over three confederate sessions in a memory test. After studying a set of human motion videos, participants had to answer whether a particular video had appeared before by indicating their side (i.e. Yes/No) and the associated confidence rating simultaneously. Participants were allowed to adjust their responses as they were being shown randomly-generated confederates’ answers and confidence values. Overall, we found that participants tended to become committed to their side early on and gain confidence gradually over subsequent sessions. This polarizing behavior may be explained by two kinds of preferences: (1) Participant’s confidence enhancement towards same-sided confederates was greater in magnitude compared to the decrement towards an opposite-sided confederate; and (2) Participants had the most effective confidence boost when the same-sided confederates shared similar, but not considerably different, confidence level to theirs. In other words, humans exhibit side- and similarity-biases during confidence conformity. Interestingly, among our participants, those who built up their confidence upon others’ retained a higher level of flexibility to change than those who had strong initial confidence. Thus, confidence polarization may not be a totally irreversible trend.

False reports of an accomplice in a crime scene: conformity effects on memory confidence and accuracy

The memory reports of a given individual may be altered by preceding memory reports of another individual, a phenomenon termed memory conformity. To investigate this phenomenon, 58 undergraduate students were separated in two groups which watched one of two slightly different movies of a crime scene (one included an accomplice). Subsequently, pairs containing one participant from each group discussed the movie, and then participants responded individually whether there was an accomplice in the scene. The frequency of false reports and their confidence for the presence/absence of the accomplice were analyzed. Only false reports of seeing an accomplice were produced (by 31% of those who saw no accomplice), and confidence were as high for these responses as for correct “no-accomplice” responses. The data is consistent with prior findings, and show that confidence on false reports can be high when involving “insertion” of elements to witnessed events.

Memory Conformity Following Collaborative Remembering

Despite natural differences in the way individuals initially remember the same encoded event, research shows that when people discuss their memories they can influence each other such that their subsequent individual memory reports become similar. This phenomenon is referred to as “memory conformity.” It can occur because people accept, and later report, information that is suggested to them in the course of the discussion. In the interest of both theoretical and applied implications, researchers have investigated factors that can increase and decrease the memory conformity effect. This chapter presents methodological approaches to investigating memory conformity, typical research findings, and current theoretical explanations that help account for the phenomenon.