Online Co-Witness Discussions Can Lead to Memory Conformity (Poster, Psychonomics 2021)
Abstract
Co-witnesses can influence each others’ memory reports (memory conformity). In the MORI paradigm, in-person pairs are led to believe that they witness the same event, but actually witness different versions, discuss the event, then take individual memory tests. This in-person paradigm has revealed robust co-witness conformity effects across cultures (Ito et al., 2019). Rasor et al. (2021) found memory conformity effects using a virtual online paradigm in which videos were presented to participants (N = 80) separately and participant discussions occurred via text chat. We conducted an initial pilot in a student population (N = 18) examining memory conformity with online video-based discussions. We also found memory conformity effects: Lower accuracy for details about which participants were misled or exposed to misinformation during the discussion, relative to items about which participants were not misled or exposed to misinformation. In a planned follow-up experiment, we will examine co-witness conformity effects in live online video discussions with community participants recruited via Prolific. Ultimately, we hope to demonstrate the viability of online co-witness experiments.
