The Power of Suggestion

Areas of Science	Sociology
Difficulty
Time Required	Long (2-4 weeks)

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Abstract

Can an authority figure make someone question their own memory? How reliable is eyewitness information? This project looks into these questions. You'll need a poster-sized image that includes many faces, and a volunteers to act as "eyewitnesses." The volunteers are tested individually. The instructions are that they have one minute to examine the poster, and then a fixed amount of time (e.g., 5 minutes) to write down brief, accurate descriptions of all the faces they can remember. They'll get points for each correct description. They will also be tested one day later, without seeing the poster again, to see how well they can retain the information after a time lapse. At the end of the first test session, the tester runs down their list, checking off correct descriptions, with the volunteer present. At some point during this process, the tester remarks, "Oh, you missed the . . ." and describes a face not in the poster. How many of the volunteers will include the non-existent face when they write their descriptions on the second day? (Gale, 2002)

Bibliography

Gale, S., 2002. "The Power of Suggestion," California State Science Fair Project Abstract [accessed February 1, 2006] http://cssf.usc.edu/History/2002/Projects/J1706.pdf.

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MLA Style

Science Buddies Staff. "The Power of Suggestion." Science Buddies, 28 July 2017, https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/Soc_p026/sociology/the-power-of-suggestion. Accessed 31 Oct. 2020.

APA Style

Science Buddies Staff. (2017, July 28). The Power of Suggestion. Retrieved from https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/Soc_p026/sociology/the-power-of-suggestion

Last edit date: 2017-07-28

Experimental Procedure

For this science project you will need to develop your own experimental procedure. Use the information in the summary tab as a starting place. If you would like to discuss your ideas or need help troubleshooting, use the Ask An Expert forum. Our Experts won't do the work for you, but they will make suggestions and offer guidance if you come to them with specific questions.

If you want a Project Idea with full instructions, please pick one without an asterisk (*) at the end of the title.

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Abstract

Bibliography