Event Title

The Effects of Source Credibility and Emotion on Blame Conformity and Recall Confidence

Location

Parker-Reed, SSWAC

Start Date

1-5-2014 2:00 PM

End Date

1-5-2014 3:00 PM

Project Type

Poster- Restricted to Campus Access

Description

The present study was a 2x3 between-subjects design; it examined the effects of experimentally-induced emotional states and source credibility of post-event information on three dependent variables: susceptibility to blame conformity, recall accuracy, and recall confidence. To begin, participants watched either a fear-inducing video or a video that induced no emotion. All participants then watched the same video of a car accident, where an SUV rear-ended a sedan at a traffic light; the driver at fault was very unclear. Afterwards, each participant read one of three eyewitness statements from a credible, a non-credible, or a non-identified source. Both the credible and non-credible source blamed the SUV for accident, while the non-identified source blamed neither vehicle. Lastly, the participants took a questionnaire consisting of eight recall questions from the car accident film clip, in addition to a question involving blame attribution. Our results indicated that participants in the fear condition across all levels of source credibility had a significant increase in recall accuracy, compared to those in the neutral condition. However, source credibility did not have a significant effect upon blame conformity, recall accuracy, or recall confidence.

Faculty Sponsor

Martha Arterberry

Sponsoring Department

Colby College. Psychology Dept.

CLAS Field of Study

Social Sciences

Event Website

http://www.colby.edu/clas

ID

619

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May 1st, 2:00 PM May 1st, 3:00 PM

The Effects of Source Credibility and Emotion on Blame Conformity and Recall Confidence

Parker-Reed, SSWAC

The present study was a 2x3 between-subjects design; it examined the effects of experimentally-induced emotional states and source credibility of post-event information on three dependent variables: susceptibility to blame conformity, recall accuracy, and recall confidence. To begin, participants watched either a fear-inducing video or a video that induced no emotion. All participants then watched the same video of a car accident, where an SUV rear-ended a sedan at a traffic light; the driver at fault was very unclear. Afterwards, each participant read one of three eyewitness statements from a credible, a non-credible, or a non-identified source. Both the credible and non-credible source blamed the SUV for accident, while the non-identified source blamed neither vehicle. Lastly, the participants took a questionnaire consisting of eight recall questions from the car accident film clip, in addition to a question involving blame attribution. Our results indicated that participants in the fear condition across all levels of source credibility had a significant increase in recall accuracy, compared to those in the neutral condition. However, source credibility did not have a significant effect upon blame conformity, recall accuracy, or recall confidence.

https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/clas/2014/program/13