Abstract
A suspect of a crime can avoid legal repercussions by creating a false alibi. We examined whether creating such a false alibi can have adverse effects on memory. To do so, participants watched a mock crime video and were either instructed to create a false alibi or to provide an honest account for what they actually saw in the video. After a 2-day and 1-month delay, all participants were instructed to come forward with the truth using a free recall task. Participants who initially created a false alibi had more commission errors after a 2-day and 1-month delay (vs. truth telling participants). Moreover, participants who created a false alibi reported fewer correct details after a 2-day and 1-month delay (vs. truth telling participants). Our study suggests that like other types of deception, creating a false alibi can elicit memory undermining effects in the form of commission and omission errors.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 936-945 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Applied Cognitive Psychology |
Volume | 36 |
Issue number | 4 |
Early online date | 7 Jul 2022 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jul 2022 |
Keywords
- deception
- false alibi
- memory
- SIMULATING AMNESIA
- MEMORY
- CONSEQUENCES