Monds, L.A., Paterson, H.M., Ali, S., Kemp, R.I., Bryant, R.A., & McGregor, I.S. (2016). Cortisol response and psychological distress predict susceptibility to false memories for a trauma film. Memory, 24(9), 1278-1286.
Participants viewed a distressing, neutral, or informed that the individuals in the film were actors.
Undergrad psych students. Mean age 19.58. Given an "eyewitness statement" of the film they viewed which included both true information and misinformation.
Asked to recall as much as they could about the information provided in the voice-over and then the rest of the film.
Conducted btw. 2pm-6pm. A week later the participants received an online follow up survey containing the IES-R
PRIMARY AIM: "to investigate whether the use of a trauma film (compared to a neutral film) would produce an increase in cortisol levels that would subsequently impact susceptibility to the misinformation effect"
"Greatest cortisol response was observed in those participants who viewed the trauma film"
"Cortisol levels in traumatised children were realted to an increase in false memory reporting"