Researchers find memory can be manipulated by photos

A new study by UC Irvine psychologist Elizabeth Loftus shows that digitally altered photos influence our memories and attitudes toward public events. In the study, 299 participants viewed doctored and original photos depicting the 1989 Tiananmen Square protest in Beijing and a 2003 anti-war protest in Rome. Those who viewed the digitally altered photos remembered the events as being bigger and more violent than they really were, suggesting that viewing doctored photographs might affect people’s memories of past public events.The study, published in the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology, was designed by Loftus along with University of Padua researchers Franca Agnoli and Dario Sacchi.