Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

False Memories

False Memories

False memories represent a cognitive distortion in which individuals recall events that did not happen, or remember them in an altered form. This phenomenon highlights the brain's constructive nature in processing and recalling memories, emphasizing that memory is not a perfect representation of past events but rather a dynamic reconstruction influenced by various factors.
One primary source of false memories is misattribution, where individuals incorrectly associate external information with...

Accuracy and Errors in Hypothesis Testing

Accuracy and Errors in Hypothesis Testing

Hypothesis testing is a fundamental statistical tool that begins with the assumption that the null hypothesis H0 is true. During this process, two types of errors can occur: Type I and Type II. A Type I error refers to the incorrect rejection of a true null hypothesis, while a Type II error involves the failure to reject a false null hypothesis.
In hypothesis testing, the probability of making a Type I error, denoted as α, is commonly set at 0.05. This significance level indicates a 5% chance...

Blind Procedures

Blind Procedures

Ideally, the people who observe and record the children’s behavior are unaware of who was assigned to the experimental or control group, in order to control for experimenter bias. Experimenter bias refers to the possibility that a researcher’s expectations might skew the results of the study. Remember, conducting an experiment requires a lot of planning, and the people involved in the research project have a vested interest in supporting their hypotheses. If the observers knew which child was...

Regression Toward the Mean

Regression Toward the Mean

Regression toward the mean (“RTM”) is a phenomenon in which extremely high or low values—for example, and individual’s blood pressure at a particular moment—appear closer to a group’s average upon remeasuring. Although this statistical peculiarity is the result of random error and chance, it has been problematic across various medical, scientific, financial and psychological applications. In particular, RTM, if not taken into account, can interfere when researchers try to extrapolate results...

The Placebo Effect

The Placebo Effect

The placebo effect occurs when people's expectations or beliefs influence or determine their experience in a given situation. In other words, simply expecting something to happen can actually make it happen.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Alexithymia, self-reported external gain expectations, and overreporting on symptom validity tests in hospital patients: further evidence for the relevance of alexithymia.

Archives of clinical neuropsychology : the official journal of the National Academy of Neuropsychologists·2026

Same author

Radiological evidence in legal contexts: forensic versus clinical reporting in cases involving living victims of violent crime.

Forensic science, medicine, and pathology·2026

Same author

Exploring the Overlooked: Dutch Clinicians' Perspectives on Side Effects of Psychological Interventions.

Clinical psychology & psychotherapy·2026

Same author

Symptom overreporting and its consequences for treatment.

Current opinion in psychology·2025

Same author

Evaluating the UE-ATR Checklist: Nuanced Attribution in Unsuccessful Therapeutic Outcomes.

Clinical psychology & psychotherapy·2025

Same author

The recovery and retraction of memories of abuse: a scoping review.

Frontiers in psychology·2025

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 28, 2026

Using Practice Testing, Public Speaking, and Source Monitoring to Examine the Influences of Learning Strategies and Stress on Episodic Memory

Using Practice Testing, Public Speaking, and Source Monitoring to Examine the Influences of Learning Strategies and Stress on Episodic Memory

Published on: June 14, 2019

Misinformation increases symptom reporting: a test - retest study.

Harald Merckelbach¹, Marko Jelicic, Maarten Pieters

¹Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University , PO Box 616, 6200 MD, Maastricht , The Netherlands.

JRSM Short Reports

|November 3, 2011

Summary

Misleading information about psychological symptoms can increase symptom reporting in individuals. Many participants did not recognize the misinformation, leading to heightened symptom ratings over time.

More Related Videos

The Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) Task: A Simple Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate False Memories in the Laboratory

The Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) Task: A Simple Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate False Memories in the Laboratory

Published on: January 31, 2017

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 28, 2026

Using Practice Testing, Public Speaking, and Source Monitoring to Examine the Influences of Learning Strategies and Stress on Episodic Memory

Using Practice Testing, Public Speaking, and Source Monitoring to Examine the Influences of Learning Strategies and Stress on Episodic Memory

Published on: June 14, 2019

The Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) Task: A Simple Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate False Memories in the Laboratory

The Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) Task: A Simple Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate False Memories in the Laboratory

Published on: January 31, 2017

Area of Science:

Psychology
Cognitive Science

Background:

Self-report measures are crucial for assessing psychological symptoms.
Understanding factors that influence symptom reporting is vital for clinical practice.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if misinformation can inflate symptom reporting in non-clinical individuals.
To assess participants' awareness of manipulated symptom ratings.

Main Methods:

A test-retest design was employed with 78 undergraduate students.
Participants completed symptom measures, received misinformation about their ratings, and were re-assessed.

Main Results:

63% of participants failed to detect the misinformation regarding their symptom ratings.
Participants unaware of the misinformation subsequently increased their symptom ratings at follow-up.

Conclusions:

Poor introspective monitoring of psychological symptoms makes individuals susceptible to misinformation.
This susceptibility can lead to symptom escalation, relevant to medically unexplained symptoms.