Do Children Create False Memories?

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The purpose of the experiment conducted by Otagaar et. al (2009) was to discover if children could create false memories about absurd situations. This is after reading cases that contained children recalling peculiar events. The authors were intrigued if children could have the ability to form false memories as adults can do. Also, Otagaar et. al (2009) wanted to find out if younger children are prone to influence of additional information, such as being given small, convincing details about false situations. The information can aid in convincing the children that these situations had happened to them. And, as a result, the children would fabricate fictitious memories from this given information.
Hypotheses
Otagaar et. al (2009) had more than one hypothesis. They first hypothesized that the formation of false memories could develop about an a seemingly realistic or fictional situation. In addition, the authors did hypothesize that younger children …show more content…
If a child receives additional information about a situation, whether the situation sounds like a normal occurrence or completely obscure, then there is a high possibility of a child developing a false memory from the received information. The other hypothesis is if a child receives additional information about a more realistic situation, then there is a high chance that the child could develop a false memory about it.
Research Participants The research participants used in the experiment were elementary school students. The number of elementary students consisted of ninety-one children overall. All of the children were separated by two age groups. The first group consisted of seven to eight year olds, and the second age group consisted of eleven to twelve year olds. The reason Otagaar et. al (2009) chose two individual age groups was to compare the difference in their memory formation.

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