- Lack of sleep makes people more likely to form false memories, study finds
- Students shown photos of crime taking place then false information about imagesÂ
- Sleep deprived participants were more likely to report made-up details
- Research team say findings could have important legal applicationsÂ
14
View
comments
A lack of sleep makes people more likely to form false memories, according to a study.
Researchers showed 104 students photos of a crime taking place and then gave them false information about the images.
Half had slept and half had stayed awake all night.
A lack of sleep makes people more likely to form false memories, according to a study
The sleep-deprived participants were more likely to report the made-up details as things they had ‘seen’ in the photos, than those who got a full night’s sleep.
The researchers said that their results, published in the journal Psychological Science, have important legal applications.
Previous studies have shown that failing to get the full eight hours interferes with cognitive functioning, but psychological scientist Steven Frenda noticed a gap in research when it came to sleep and memory.
The scientist, from the University of California, said: ’Over the years I noticed that whenever I had a bad night’s sleep, my perception and memory seemed to get fuzzy until I had a good recovery sleep.
‘I was surprised to find that there were so few empirical studies connecting sleep deprivation with memory distortion in an eyewitness context.Â
‘The studies that do exist look mostly at sleep deprived people’s ability to accurately remember lists of words – not real people, places and events.’
‘Recent studies are suggesting people are getting fewer hours of sleep … and chronic sleep deprivation is on the rise.
‘Our findings have implications for the reliability of eyewitnesses who may have experienced long periods of restricted or deprived sleep.
He said more research is necessary before scientists can provide law enforcement with evidence-based guidelines on how to best ensure that eyewitnesses’ memories are accurate, adding: ‘We are running new experiments now, in order to better understand the influence of sleep deprivation on processes related to false memory.’
Â
or comment on this article
Pretty teen Sabina Altynbekova playing volleyball for…
US Marines confront ‘fake sergeant major’ at funeral
Man films ‘racist’ shop workers following him around store
Sex on the beach. Moment couple are caught in the act
Woman smashes windows of SUV as its being reposessed
North Korean capital’s strange wake up call to residents
Woman attempts to get clamped car back by stripping
Outstanding three-year-old drummer leads entire orchestra
Australian Mark Fahey films inside a textile factory in…
Workers are seen making shoes in a factory in North Korea
Transgender model Andreja meets and greets awaiting fans
Pit bull puppy cuddles up next to 10 week old baby
‘Bucket full of heads any1 in aus want some organs please…
Casey Kasem’s body could be kept in Montreal funeral home…
Two women found GUILTY of beating newly-wed to death outside…
Hero doctor stops hospital shooting rampage: Psychiatrist…
Billionaire hedge-funder husband ‘blindsides’ his wife of 11…
Kazakh volleyball player Sabina Altynbekova so attractive…
Male model who took the women’s fashion world by storm comes…
Indian rape suspects lie beaten on the ground, surrounded by…
‘Mascara from Amsterdam, or if to be precise from the…
Mystery ‘do-gooder’ causes panic by leaving sinister dolls…
Michael Moore’s lavish property empire is revealed in court…
Pregnant woman in labor was prevented from getting to…
Comments (14)
what you think
-
Newest -
Oldest -
Best rated -
Worst rated
The comments below have not been moderated.
The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.
Find out now