Remembering why: Can people consistently recall reasons for their behaviour?

We explored how consistent individuals are over time in their recall of the reasons why they engaged in a past behaviour. The study was inspired by a research survey submitted in a copyright infringement case. Study participants listed the reasons why they acquired a particular CD, and repeated the...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied cognitive psychology 2011-01, Vol.25 (1), p.35-42
Main Authors: Kaasa, Suzanne O., Morris, Erin K., Loftus, Elizabeth F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Behavior
Biological and medical sciences
Cognition & reasoning
Cognitive ability
Cognitive psychology
Copyright
Distortion
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Human
Inconsistency
Infringement
Learning. Memory
Memory
Preferences
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Recall
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We explored how consistent individuals are over time in their recall of the reasons why they engaged in a past behaviour. The study was inspired by a research survey submitted in a copyright infringement case. Study participants listed the reasons why they acquired a particular CD, and repeated the survey several months later. We assessed the consistency of responses across time overall and at the individual level. Results indicate that both forgetting and memory distortion were common. Different types of inconsistencies were identified, and these responses were predicted by characteristics of the original memory and of individuals' preferences towards the CD. Implications for the legal field are discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
ISSN:0888-4080
1099-0720
1099-0720
DOI:10.1002/acp.1639