The replication supports the claim that it is possible to plant a false memory of a childhood event

Murphy, Gillian, Caroline Dawson, Lisa Ballantyne, Liz Barrett, Conor Cowman, Christopher Fitzsimons, Charlotte Huston, et al. 2022. “Lost in the Mall Again: A Preregistered Direct Replication of Loftus & Pickrell (1995).” PsyArXiv. June 28. doi:10.31234/osf.io/nh3zq

Abstract: The seminal Lost in the Mall study (Loftus & Pickrell, 1995) has been enormously influential in psychology and is still cited in many legal cases. The current study directly replicated this paper, addressing key methodological weaknesses including increasing the sample size and preregistering detailed analysis plans. Participants (N = 123) completed a survey and two interviews where they discussed real and fabricated childhood events, based on information provided by an older relative. We replicated the findings of the original study, with 35% of participants reporting a false memory for getting lost in a mall as a child (compared to 25% in the original study). However, using a novel self-report measure, just 14% of participants declared that they remembered the fake event occurring, with a further 52% stating that they believed the fake event had occurred. The replication supports the claim that it is possible to plant a false memory of a childhood event.