This is known as the self-serving bias. One factor is the duration of the event being witnessed. Crutchfield, R. (1955). In the self-reference effect, memories that are encoded with relation to the self are better recalled than similar memories encoded otherwise. Some factors that contribute to memory conformity are age (the elderly and children are more likely to have memory distortions due to memory conformity) and confidence (individuals are more likely to conform their memories to others if they are not certain about what they remember). The study found no false identifications after the 3-day period, but after 5 months, 35% of identifications were false. One critical decision memory-con-formity researchers have to make is whether to have the Likewise, the brain has the tendency to fill in blanks and inconsistencies in a memory by making use of the imagination and similarities with other memories. However, these leaders also agree that it is possible to construct convincing pseudomemories for events that never occurred. Intrusion errors occur when information that is related to the theme of a certain memory, but was not actually a part of the original episode, become associated with the event. This makes it difficult to distinguish which elements are in fact part of the original memory. Results: Sherif found that over numerous estimates (trials) of the movement of light, the group converged to a common estimate. One factor that influences the encoding of memory is the duration of the event being witnessed. The other-race effect is a studied effect in which eyewitnesses are not as good at facially identifying individuals from races different from their own. (1932). Research has consistently shown that even very subtle changes in the wording of a question can influence memory. The social influence of memory conformity should … Eyewitness testimony has been considered a credible source in the past, but its reliability has recently come into question. For instance, when remembering a traumatic event, individuals are most likely to remember how scared they felt, the image of having a gun held to their head, or other details that are highly emotionally charged. A person publicly changes their behavior to fit in with the group, while also agreeing with them privately. In traumatic memories, there is a narrowed attentional focus on the emotional aspects of the memory; in contrast, non-traumatic memories encode a full narrative of the event. He adopts the induced behavior because it is congruent [consistent] with his value system' (Kelman, 1958, p. 53). For example, Smith and Bond (1998) discovered cultural differences in conformity between western and eastern countries. Tali Sharot2, 3. His experiment was an ambiguous situation involving a glass bottle filled with beans. This change is in response to real (involving the physical presence of others) or imagined (involving the pressure of social norms / expectations) group pressure. (Then reason why)” … Effects of group pressure upon the modification and distortion of judgments. When witnessing an incident, information about the event is entered into memory. There are many identified types of bias that influence people’s memories. When you experience illusory correlation, you inaccurately assume a relationship between two events related purely by coincidence. Conclusion: The results show that when in an ambiguous situation (such as the autokinetic effect), a person will look to others (who know more / better) for guidance (i.e. It was discovered that when participants were individually tested their estimates on how far the light moved varied considerably (e.g. Conformity and Character. 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