In studies examining the impact of positive feedback on memory, how does receiving positive feedback typically affect participants' recall of details from a crime video?

• A. It decreases participants' confidence and makes their memories less accurate.
• B. It has no effect on either confidence or accuracy in recalling the crime video.
• C. It leads to both higher confidence and significantly more accurate recall of the crime video.
• D. It increases participants' confidence in their memories, but does not necessarily improve the accuracy of their recall.

Answer: (D)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Step 1: Understand the key variables in the problem—positive feedback, participants' confidence, and accuracy of memory recall. Positive feedback refers to affirmations or encouragement given to participants about their performance.
2. Step 2: Recognize that in psychological research on memory, confidence and accuracy are related but distinct constructs. Confidence is how sure participants feel about their memories, while accuracy is how correct those memories actually are.
3. Step 3: Review empirical findings from studies on feedback and memory, which often show that positive feedback tends to increase participants' confidence in their memories.
4. Step 4: Note that despite increased confidence, positive feedback does not necessarily improve the actual accuracy of the recalled details. Participants may feel more certain but still recall incorrect or incomplete information.
5. Step 5: Conclude that the typical effect of positive feedback in these studies is an increase in confidence without a corresponding increase in memory accuracy.