Misinformation Effect
What we hear afterward can quietly rewrite a memory.
Evidence: well established. We label every concept honestly, and say so when it's a teaching model. How we rate evidence.
Shrink Definition
The misinformation effect is how exposure to misleading information after an event can distort what we remember about it. A leading question or a false detail can be woven into the memory as if it were real. It shows memory is reconstructive, rebuilt each time rather than replayed. Even confident, vivid memories can be altered this way.
Plain language
Misleading information after an event can reshape what we remember.
Shrink Insight
Memory is rebuilt, not replayed, so it can be edited after the fact.
Why it matters
It matters for eyewitness accounts, therapy, and everyday disputes about what happened. It teaches humility about even vivid, confident memories.
Common misunderstanding
People think memory works like a recording that plays back faithfully. Memory is reconstructive and can absorb false details introduced later.
Shrink Perspective
A confident memory isn't proof of an accurate one.
Shrink Reflection
Which of my certain memories might have been reshaped later?
Shrink Step
Hold confident memories of contested events a little more loosely.
Shrink Minute
Recall a memory you later learned was partly wrong.
Shrink Takeaway
Even vivid memories can be edited after the fact.
Medical boundary
This concept is educational and shouldn't be used to self-diagnose. It doesn't replace care from a licensed clinician. Symptoms, medication, and treatment decisions should be discussed with a qualified professional, and emergency symptoms require emergency care.
Evidence summary
A landmark, extensively replicated finding in memory research on eyewitness reliability.
Your next step in The Shrink Network
You're here: ShrinkDaily, the daily learning layer of The Shrink Network.
Each site in the network has one job. No matter where you enter, we help you find the next step that makes sense.
Want to understand more first?
Need care, not just information? Get clinical care, shrinkMD.
One concept a day
Get the daily concept by email
A short, clinically grounded idea each morning, from a board-certified psychiatrist. Free, and no ads.