The Effect Of Induced Positive, Negative, And Neutral Emotions On Susceptibility Of Accepting Misleading Information About An Image Depicting A Negative Event

Author(s)

Gloria Kim

School Name

Spring Valley High School

Grade Level

10th Grade

Presentation Topic

Psychology and Sociology

Presentation Type

Non-Mentored

Written Paper Award

1st Place

Abstract

Memories are influenced by cognitive and social factors after witnessing or experiencing an event. It is important to minimize these influences in order to receive the most accurate retrieval of the event, especially when it involves the verdict of a person in a court trial. Altered memories can result in wrongful conviction. In this experiment, mood-induction was performed to see its effect on subjects’ ability to reject misleading information and recall details. It was hypothesized that the negative emotion group would recall the original details of the negative image more accurately and reject the misleading information more often. Thirty-six subjects were randomly separated into groups labeled positive, neutral, and negative. The original image was shown and rated by the subjects. A filler task was assigned before showing the altered image. The group was revisited 48 hours later. Subjects viewed and rated the selected mood-induction video before being distributed a questionnaire. Responses were scored using an answer key. This process was repeated for the other groups. At α = 0.05, the ANOVA analysis of the questionnaire scores gave a p-value of 0.1198. Since p = 0.1198 > α = 0.05, there was no significant difference between the groups’ means. Therefore, the hypothesis was not supported. However, due to an unexpected change made to the time delay, the results are not as accurate as intended. In conclusion, the negative emotion group did not outperform the neutral and positive group in recalling the original details of the image and rejecting the misleading information.

Location

Owens 108

Start Date

4-16-2016 10:30 AM

COinS
 
Apr 16th, 10:30 AM

The Effect Of Induced Positive, Negative, And Neutral Emotions On Susceptibility Of Accepting Misleading Information About An Image Depicting A Negative Event

Owens 108

Memories are influenced by cognitive and social factors after witnessing or experiencing an event. It is important to minimize these influences in order to receive the most accurate retrieval of the event, especially when it involves the verdict of a person in a court trial. Altered memories can result in wrongful conviction. In this experiment, mood-induction was performed to see its effect on subjects’ ability to reject misleading information and recall details. It was hypothesized that the negative emotion group would recall the original details of the negative image more accurately and reject the misleading information more often. Thirty-six subjects were randomly separated into groups labeled positive, neutral, and negative. The original image was shown and rated by the subjects. A filler task was assigned before showing the altered image. The group was revisited 48 hours later. Subjects viewed and rated the selected mood-induction video before being distributed a questionnaire. Responses were scored using an answer key. This process was repeated for the other groups. At α = 0.05, the ANOVA analysis of the questionnaire scores gave a p-value of 0.1198. Since p = 0.1198 > α = 0.05, there was no significant difference between the groups’ means. Therefore, the hypothesis was not supported. However, due to an unexpected change made to the time delay, the results are not as accurate as intended. In conclusion, the negative emotion group did not outperform the neutral and positive group in recalling the original details of the image and rejecting the misleading information.