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Das sagt jedenfalls Elizabeth Loftus von der University of California, Irvine, nach einem Artikel von Alexis Madrigal auf wired.com:

“It can be said that we’re on the brink of having a recipe for how we go about developing a false memory,” Loftus told a packed lecture hall here at the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences annual meeting on Saturday.

The study of misinformation and false memories have consistently shown that human beings are highly susceptible to suggestion. Much of the work has focused on creating or changing people’s memories of the past. Loftus gave several humorous examples of memories that her team has been able to plant in substantial portions of the people in their studies, including convincing people that they had gotten sick from eating strawberry ice cream or the Pluto character at Disneyland had licked “their ears disturbingly and uncomfortably” when they were young children.

Sogar Kindheitserinnerungen liessen sich erfolgreich in betraechtliche Teile der Probanden implantieren. Zum Beispiel die Erinnerung dass Walt Disneys Pluto einem im Disneyland unangenehm und stoerend die Ohren geleckt haette als man jung war.

So hat die Gruppe von Loftus angeblich versucht einfache ‘misinformation’ sowie weit komplexere Zusammenhaenge ins Gedaechtnis einzu’pflanzen’ bei ihren Bestrebungen die Praezision menschlicher Augenzeugenaussagen zu untersuchen.

The research calls into question the entire eyewitness-based legal system. False memories implanted by researchers, it turns out, look basically identical to real memories. Neuroimaging machines can’t tell them apart and neither can researchers.

Jetzt erforschen sie angeblich wer am empfaenglichsten fyr eine solche Gedaechtnisveraenderung ist.

“I believe to some extent we’re all susceptible to succumbing to false memories and having people tinker with our autobiographies,” Loftus said, but a big brain can provide some measure of protection. “The smarter you are, the more you resist the misinformation.”