After reading a story about two people going to a movie, the reader is most likely to make which of the following errors in recalling the story?
A) forgetting the fact that the fire alarm went off during the movie
B) claiming that the protagonists bought tickets, even though the story did not mention that
C) claiming that the movie was a comedy even though it was a drama
D) claiming that the people sitting behind the two people in the story were men when, in fact, they were women

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This is a classic example of a false memory. Since the story did not mention whether the protagonists bought tickets or not, the reader may fill in the gap with their own assumptions and believe that they did buy tickets. This is a common error in memory recall. The other options include details that were explicitly mentioned in the story and are less likely to be forgotten or altered in memory.

After Reading a Story About Two People Going to a Movie