MSc Psychology Research Project: Misinformation Effect on Arab Adults

This Master of Science in Psychology research project investigates the misinformation effect on Arab adults, exploring how post-event information can alter memory. The study involved 1,340 participants from various Arab nationalities and genders who watched a video and listened to a post-event narration containing misinformation. The research aimed to determine if the misinformation effect impacted their recall of the video's details. The study examined the influence of age and gender on susceptibility to misinformation, revealing a significant effect where participants were misled on questions related to the misinformation. Females were slightly more affected than males. The study's findings, replicating previous cross-cultural research, suggest that the Arab sample tested were susceptible to the misinformation effect, highlighting the dynamic and changeable nature of human memory and its implications in various contexts, including media influence and collective memory.

Misinformation Effect on Arab Adults Using the Internet
A Research Project submitted for the Masters of Science in
Psychology

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Abstract
The Misinformation Effect Theory states that memory can be altered
with post events, and that change can be permanent. There are
many studies that have been done to test this theory cross
culturally. The study, here, investigated the misinformation effect in
Arabsfrom different nationalities and of both genders by watching a
short video clip then listening to a post-event audio narration
describing the scene in the video clip. The 1,340 participants were
asked after watching the video and listening to the audio, four
questions about the scene, two of the questions correspondedto an
experimental group with misinformation and two other ones were
not. The independent variables were the group age and gender.
Although there are claims that Arabs have strong memory and are
taught techniques from a young age, the study showed that this
claim didn't make any significant difference when compared with
other nationalities. The study does show significant effect of the
misinformation with the participants tested. Out of the 683
participants that were infected with misinformation 218 were misled
in one question and 215 in the other question. Age didn't show any
significance, however, gender did, where females were more
effected with the misinformation than males by a slight difference of
3-5%. The overall percentage of misinformation effect was 10% on
those who were misinformed and infected. This is the only study
done on Arab nationals testing misinformation effect as of this date.
The study concludes that the Arab sample tested in this study were

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affected by the misinformation and replicates other previous studies
cross culturally.

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Contents
Declaration Form ……………………………………………………………….
2
Abstract ………………………………………………………………………… 3
Contents ………………………………………………………………………… 4
Acknowledgement ………………………………………………………………
5
Chapter 1: Introduction …………………………………………………………
6
Hypothesis ……………………………………………………………………… 10
Chapter Two: Literature Review ……………………………………………….
12
Chapter Three: Research Methodology
……………………………………....... 25
Chapter Four: Findings, Analysis, and Evaluation
…………………………….. 28
Chapter Five: Discussion and Conclusion.
…………………………………… 26
Appendixes ……………………………………………………………………. 37
References …………………………………………………………………….. 49

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Acknowledgments
I would like to express gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Marietta Papadatou-
Pastou (University of Roehampton) for her help in bringing this study into
a more academic work. Her acknowledgment to the hours and thoughts
she put with supervising the work is appreciated and noted.
I would like to also express gratitude to Smarts Way Telegram
Channel (Smarts Way Holding Co.) and the teamthat have made
reaching this large number of Arab participants possible and
satisfactory. Without their help, it would have been much harder to
collect such a large number of participants.
This study was not possible without the help, teaching, and precise
educational system by the University of Roehampton. I would like to
expand this acknowledgment to the University, its staff, the writing
center, and supervising committees.

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Chapter One
Introduction
For ages people thought of memory as solid, or something you
record through your senses and then retrieve it from the brain
whenever needed. Old writings and text books explain memory as
being a "storehouse in which we store away our knowledge until we
wish to use it" (Brooks, 1882). Historically, and still mostly adopted,
memory storageis divided into different trace systems: immediate,
short-term and long-term; and permanentmemory was within these
systems (McGaugh, 1966).Even when forgettingwas discussed it
was attributed to changes in what is called 'association' of the
memory, although it was believed with previous literature that the
trace to the memory might be lost, but the original memory remains
in storage (i.e. Frijda, 1972).Earlier studies as far as 1900 were
conducted to test human memories, especially those of the two
German scientists of the University of Göttingen, Georg Elias Müller
and Alfons Pilzecker, who concluded in their series of studies that
memory is fragile at the beginning of its formation, however, it
strengthens and can be consolidated as if it is stored in a cabinet
over time (Hall S. S., 2013).
Studies and discussions about memory can go back as long as
Plato and Aristotle(Murray, 1976). However, this belief that memory
is a 'solid storage' has been changing and a wide discussion in the
academic arena has formed a new paradigm that states that

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memory is interactive, constructive, and changeable. This new
paradigm has been backed by evidencesfrom many studies which
indicate that memory is like a Wikipedia that can not only be
changed by you, but also by others (Loftus, 2013). One study even
stated that: “If you reactivate a memory by retrieving it, that
memory becomes susceptible to changes again. And if at that time,
you give people new contradictory information, that can make the
original memory much harder to retrieve the later,” (Chan, 2013, as
cited by Kurzweil, 2013).
There have been many attempts to tap into memory and
change its core, either by leaving the memory but re-training it to
retrieve without the unwanted feelings or by even erasing or
changing its core, especially, in post-traumatic syndrome disorder
(PTSD). Daniella Schiller (2010) has attempted various studies in
what became to be known as 'reconsolidation' to train the brain into
bringing back the traumatic memory in a safe environment and re-
training it to bring it without the fear or anxiety, and has recorded
evidences with some holocaust survivors, including her father, and
other post traumatic patients (Hall, 2013; Schiller et al., 2010).
Nader Karim, another neuroscientist that Schiller worked with
it,prior to her work, has also tested with colleagues and in many
studies the use of 'reconsolidation' with the use of medication that
affects the amygdala, and showed evidences first with rats and later
with humans (Nader & Hardt, 2009). There are other attempts that
many professionals in the field would doubt to call them scientific or

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accept them as so. These attempts, however, have been gaining
wide acceptance by patients and specialists using personal
coaching, psychotherapy, and counselling. These attempts, such as
Thought Field Therapy (TFT), founded by American psychologist
Roger Callahan (1985), that uses techniques of tapping while
thinking about the suffering issue, similar to systematic
desensitization, which is an old therapy technique introduced by
psychologist Joseph Wolpe (1954) and used by behavioral
psychologists to relief stress or fear response by using focusing,such
as breathing exercise, and facing the thoughts or symptoms that
come when retrieving the memory. Wolpe believed in the
effectiveness of this therapeutic technique and reported that 35 of
39 phobic cases were treated and Lazarus (1961) reported the same
results (Lang & Lazovik, 1965).
TFT was empirically tested with the help of trained persons in
the techniques joined by clinicians from Sweden, the United
Kingdom, and the United States and four physicians, in some mass
traumas of the Kosovo crisis, which tested 105 patients with 249
separate traumas. The study reported some kind of relief to 103
patients and 247 traumas (Johnson, et al., 2001). In another case
study, the brain waves were measured of a patient with severe
posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). With the use of
Electroencephalography (EEG) and the methodology of QEEG
(Quantitative aspects of EEG) and with 18-months follow-up period
the study resulted in a symptom-free patient and concluded that

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TFT has empirical evidence of affecting brain waves and
experiencing trauma without symptoms, at least in that particular
case. (Diepold & Goldstein, 2009)Although TFT has been tested and
showed effectiveness in stress related issues, the founder and his
predecessors claim that TFT is effective with tens of diseases and
symptoms (Callahan, 2001) which is yet to be empirically tested.
Other attempts that gained popularity but were not accepted
by most psychologists such as Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP)
and Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), also have some reviewed
studies recordedwhich are worth expanding.Although the theory
behind these techniques and claimed therapies are not scientifically
explained or illustrated, yet results have been puzzling, which
should bring attention to study the real work behind the results.
Loftus et al. (1978) believed that people are prone to have
misinformation affect their memory, especially as time passes to the
extent that the original information might even fade (Loftus, 2005).
Thirty years of research and study of this phenomenon led to
realization that not only memory be altered but can be added,
subtracted, and diverted. Research has also led to conclusion that
misinformation can even reconstruct or create false memories
(Loftus, 2005).In the shadow of this paradigm it can be seen how
risky and maybe dangerous that can be as media, clergies of
religion, politicians, and influence groups canshape and reshape
memory of not only individuals but evencommunities and nations.

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The misinformation effect is heavily used on many areas including
advertising. Advertising, for example, is a real power of effect and
can create real change (Clark, 1985, as cited by Braun & Loftus,
1998). It can connect or reconstruct linked memories with
advertised products or services (Braun & Loftus, 1998). There has
even been research on adults who report child sexual abuse that
were false memories (Ost, et al., 2013). Research also added to this
issue that the memory effected has a long term impact including
issues such as witnessing a crime (Black, 1998).
There are two opinions of the original memory that was
represented. One that says that the original is still there, and
another that says that it doesn't exist anymore and that it has been
changed, and contradicting research could not bring a consensus on
this issue(Frost & Weaver, 1997).
The purpose of this paper is to examine the phenomenon of
misinformation effect on Arab nationals. Arabs relyon their memory
for decision making, constructing plans, building knowledge and
other areas as the study will discuss. Although all nations emphasize
on the importance of past, the Arabs connect almost in every
speech giving some past pride or sorrow. For example, the United
Kingdom has 28 possible days to remember in the
calendar(Calendar for Year 2017: United Kingdom, 2017), Shia
Muslim sector in the Arab world has over 100 possible days to
remember in the year calendar (Shia Religious Dates, 2017),