Misinformation encountered after witnessing an event is known to influence subsequent memory reports about this event. In most research, misleading information was introduced impersonally, for example, by means of a written description, but it is now well established that delivering it in a social interaction is effective as well. Less is known about the relative effectiveness of impersonal post-event misinformation compared with a socially presented one. The present research provides a direct empirical comparison between social, para-social, and impersonal methods of delivering misinformation. Results indicate that the way in which post-event information is provided does not affect the number of false recall items, source monitoring, or remember-know distinction, with a high Bayesian probability of the obtained no-difference effects. Results show that the social conformity factor does not significantly influence the impact of misleading post-event information. The paper also provides a theoretical comparison of the two effects.
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