Question

Just before an episode of a popular television show, a fake crime was committed in which a man with brown hair, dressed in blue jeans and a green long-sleeved shirt, stole a woman's handbag. The "crime" was staged right next to the talkative line of bystanders, including a few people planted by the producers. When questioned by "police" almost immediately after the event, witnesses were asked if he was wearing a hat. After talking about the "robbery" among themselves, many "witnesses" said that the man was wearing a hat and gave differing descriptions of the culprit. Which memory flaw BEST explains this fault?

Answer 1

Answer:

Suggestibility

Explanation:

In psychology, the term suggestibility refers to the process by which we accept and act under the suggestions of others. When we're talking about memory, this phenomenon happens when we fill gaps in our memory with information that other persons give to us (by remembering an event).

In this example, a fake crime was committed and a man with  brown hair and blue jeans and green long-sleeved shirt stole a woman's handbag. Later, many "witnesses" (some of them were staged) said that the man was wearing a hat, so later when they were questioned by the police, many witnesses actually said that the man was wearing a hat. We can see how the influence of the other people (the staged "witnesses") made the normal witnesses fill the gap in their memory with the information that this fake witnesses gave to them ("The man was wearing a hat") and therefore, this explains suggestibility.