False-memory study recruits Bugs Bunny - News about religious cults and sects

SEATTLE, June 11 (UPI) -- Warner Brothers cartoon icon Bugs Bunny played a pivotal role in a study of false memory and the power of suggestive advertising.

In a study reported by Seattle researchers Monday, fully 30 percent of people shown a fake print ad of Bugs in front of Disneyland recalled shaking his hand when they visited there -- although he is a Warner Bros., not Disney, character.

University of Washington memory researchers Jacquie Pickrell and Elizabeth Loftus divided 120 volunteers into four groups. The subjects were told they were going to evaluate advertising copy, fill out several questionnaires and answer questions about a trip to Disneyland.

As for the one-third who 'remembered' meeting Bugs -- "that was impossible because Bugs Bunny is a Warner Bros. character and wouldn't be in any Walt Disney Co. advertisements," Pickrell, a graduate student, told United Press International.

"It's not that these people were unsure of whether they had met Bugs or not," she explained. "They were asked whether they remembered or knew that they had met him at Disneyland -- and they were sure they had."

She added, "The frightening thing about this study is that it suggests how easily a false memory can be created."

The findings will be presented this week at the annual meeting the Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition in Kingston, Ontario.

"The visual association in this study fits in the general category of 'critical lure' used in advertisement or to generate false memories," said Duke University neuroscientist Dr. Roberto Cabeza.

He recently presented data on how the brain's memory center distinguishes true memories from false recollections of events that might have occurred, but actually didn't.
[...more...] [Need the full story? Read this]