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suggestibility
The tendency to incorporate information from external sources into one's own memory or judgment, particularly when the information comes from authoritative or trusted sources. Leading questions, social pressure, and repeated assertions can all alter what a person believes they remember or know. This makes memory more malleable than most people realize.
An eyewitness to a car accident is asked 'How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?' versus 'How fast were the cars going when they contacted each other?' The word 'smashed' leads to higher speed estimates and even false memories of broken glass that was not present.
After a political rally, an interviewer asks supporters, 'What did you think of the candidate's powerful speech?' Rather than evaluating the speech independently, many respondents describe it as powerful and energetic, having absorbed the framing from the question itself.
A doctor mentions to a patient, 'Some people find this medication causes mild fatigue — have you noticed that?' The patient, who had not previously reported any fatigue, begins to recall feeling unusually tired in recent days and confirms the symptom.
Binary (yes/no) questions an LLM must answer to identify this aspect:
Were leading questions or suggestions present before the memory was reported?
Type: binaryCould the recalled details have been implanted by external suggestion?
Type: binaryWould the memory differ without prior prompting or suggestion?
Type: binaryThe tendency to incorporate information from external sources into one's own memory or judgment, particularly when the information comes from authoritative or trusted sources. Leading questions, social pressure, and repeated assertions can all alter what a person believes they remember or know. This makes memory more malleable than most people realize.
Memory is reconstructive, not reproductive — it is rebuilt each time from fragments. External suggestions can be incorporated during this reconstruction process, especially when the original memory is weak or the source of the suggestion is credible.
Use open-ended questions rather than leading ones when gathering information. Be aware that repeated exposure to a particular narrative can gradually reshape your memory of events.
Suggestibility is critical in police interrogation, eyewitness interviews, therapy (false memory creation), and advertising. It has led to wrongful convictions and false abuse memories in clinical settings.
Use these tools to detect, analyze, or train this aspect.