The study is based on the ease of false information in the manipulation of people’s beliefs and memories. This is based on the fact that with fabricated evidence the study was able to induce several individuals into accusing people who never did a thing. The study can be stated to have been an update to previous studies. Researchers acknowledged the reality of memory manipulation but wanted to demonstrate it in a contemporary manner. Their research was modeled after that of Nash, and Wade (2009), whereby subjects were given a gambling task that they were later accused of cheating while performing (Wade, Green & Nash, 2009) . Regardless, the technique the researchers implemented focused on doctored images and videos to create a compelling argument. This technique was also selected for the public reason that courts with either civil or criminal cases have received information that is modified thereby relying on forensic analysts for clarification. Overall, the researchers wanted to investigate the ease of witness manipulation with digital information in the form of videos.
Participants
The study participants were mostly made up of sixty university students aged between 18 years and 43 years old (Wade, Green & Nash, 2009) . In the same sample group, to ensure ethical standards adhered to 53% of them were female. Moreover, to ensure the results were unbiased, they relied on a random order of exposure of the participants to the false video, this group of the participant was informed of the presence of video evidence, and finally, the control group were not told about the video (Wade, Green & Nash, 2009) . In essence, each of the three group had randomly selected members until each were equal at 20. The study commenced with all the participants being given a gambling task. Seated alongside them was an associate selected from the same school and did not know any of the participants.
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Procedure and Findings
Nevertheless, after the activity was finished, the participants were falsely informed that their colleague in the study cheated. The action that followed is what the researchers were studying. By offering the two groups different information and one being the control group, they wanted to determine the ease of believing the false information (Wade, Green & Nash, 2009) . The entire study took approximately 8 hours as the first phase which was the gambling and false informing stages, and it took approximately 15 minutes. The second stage which involved the exposure of the participants to the modified video took the longest time approximately 7 hours. The second phase, also the measuring phase, is where researches compiled the number of participants who believed the false information, 20 random participants were shown a doctored 15-second video (Wade, Green & Nash, 2009) . Another 20 random participants were not shown the video but told of its existence and finally the control group who were not told of any evidence. The major findings were that 20% believed the false accusation, over 15% on the first phase and the remainder on the second phase after exposure to the video. Though the researchers state that the sample size was too small for statistical accuracy, they agree with previous researches on the fact that people may hold false beliefs over past experiences.
Personal Comment
From a personal perspective, the study has demonstrated a shocking fact that eyewitness statements may not be accurate. The human mind is susceptible to false information and believing it until it appears true. The study has provided reasoning over the need for forensic professionals during the submission of evidence over a case. It is now clear that the court intends to ensure that the judge, jury, as well as the representatives, are given accurate information to the happenings.
Reference
Wade, K., Green, S., & Nash, R. (2009). Can fabricated evidence induce false eyewitness testimony?. Applied Cognitive Psychology , 24 (7), 899-908. doi: 10.1002/acp.1607 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/acp.1607
