William is shopping at a convenience store when a man rushes in, shoots the store clerk in the arm, hurriedly cleans out the cash register, and then speeds away in a pickup truck. Later, a detective asks William to describe the woman who was waiting for the thief in the truck. The fact is, William didn't see a woman in the truck, but after the detective urges him to "think hard and try to remember her," he begins to recall seeing a blonde woman sitting in the passenger side of the truck. This situation illustrates:
A) the misinformation effect
B) a retrieval cue
C) spreading activation
D) encoding specificity

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The situation illustrated is the misinformation effect, which is when a person's memory is altered by misleading information presented after an event. In this case, the detective's urging for William to "think hard and try to remember her" influenced his recall of seeing a woman in the truck, even though he didn't originally see one.

William Is Shopping at a Convenience Store When a Man