The fate of memory: Comment on McCloskey and Zaragoza.

M. McCloskey and M. Zaragoza (see record 1986-03053-001) argued that misleading postevent (PE) suggestions do not affect the availability of originally encoded information. Careful consideration of the predictions of their experimental test suggests that it may be insufficiently sensitive to reveal the impact of PE information. A small effect of PE information can be observed when their paradigm is repeated with a more sensitive recognition test. McCloskey and Zaragoza's "no impairment" hypothesis is also difficult to reconcile with numerous reports of "blend" memories that reflect a compromise between the original and PE information. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)