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The Effects of Confirmation Bias on Memory: An Experimental Study

Havluciyan, Sophia LU and Barden, Alva LU (2024) PSYK11 20241
Department of Psychology
Abstract
This study investigated the effects of confirmation bias on episodic memory. This was achieved through an experiment assessing people's attitudes towards drugs and their recall of pro, neutral, and anti-drug news headlines. Our hypothesis was that participants would be better at remembering headlines that were in support of their beliefs and worse at remembering those that were against. 109 people participated in this study. First, the participants were instructed to fill out a drug attitude test. Then, they read 12 news flashes, consisting of a headline and a short paragraph of text. The news flashes were evenly distributed across 3 conditions: pro-drugs, neutral, and anti-drugs. After that, a memory test was given to the participants... (More)
This study investigated the effects of confirmation bias on episodic memory. This was achieved through an experiment assessing people's attitudes towards drugs and their recall of pro, neutral, and anti-drug news headlines. Our hypothesis was that participants would be better at remembering headlines that were in support of their beliefs and worse at remembering those that were against. 109 people participated in this study. First, the participants were instructed to fill out a drug attitude test. Then, they read 12 news flashes, consisting of a headline and a short paragraph of text. The news flashes were evenly distributed across 3 conditions: pro-drugs, neutral, and anti-drugs. After that, a memory test was given to the participants where they were shown 24 headlines and asked if they had seen them previously in the experiment or not. The results revealed that recognition memory was best for anti-drug headlines compared to pro-drug and neutral headlines. However, when factoring in attitude scores the results were insignificant. When looking closer into the attitude scores of the sample, a majority of the participants were strongly biased against drugs. Given that participants also had better recognition memory for anti-drug headlines, the results are in line with our hypothesis. However, more research within the area must be conducted to draw this conclusion. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Havluciyan, Sophia LU and Barden, Alva LU
supervisor
organization
course
PSYK11 20241
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Confirmation Bias, Drug Attitude Scale, Episodic Memory, Recognition Memory
language
English
id
9163112
date added to LUP
2024-06-19 15:02:44
date last changed
2024-06-19 15:02:44
@misc{9163112,
  abstract     = {{This study investigated the effects of confirmation bias on episodic memory. This was achieved through an experiment assessing people's attitudes towards drugs and their recall of pro, neutral, and anti-drug news headlines. Our hypothesis was that participants would be better at remembering headlines that were in support of their beliefs and worse at remembering those that were against. 109 people participated in this study. First, the participants were instructed to fill out a drug attitude test. Then, they read 12 news flashes, consisting of a headline and a short paragraph of text. The news flashes were evenly distributed across 3 conditions: pro-drugs, neutral, and anti-drugs. After that, a memory test was given to the participants where they were shown 24 headlines and asked if they had seen them previously in the experiment or not. The results revealed that recognition memory was best for anti-drug headlines compared to pro-drug and neutral headlines. However, when factoring in attitude scores the results were insignificant. When looking closer into the attitude scores of the sample, a majority of the participants were strongly biased against drugs. Given that participants also had better recognition memory for anti-drug headlines, the results are in line with our hypothesis. However, more research within the area must be conducted to draw this conclusion.}},
  author       = {{Havluciyan, Sophia and Barden, Alva}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{The Effects of Confirmation Bias on Memory: An Experimental Study}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}