title: Pluto behaving badly: false beliefs and their consequences.
abstract: We exposed college students to suggestive materials in order to lead them to believe that, as children, they had a negative experience at Disneyland involving the Pluto character. A sizable minority of subjects developed a false belief or memory that Pluto had uncomfortably licked their ear. Suggestions about a positive experience with Pluto led to even greater acceptance of a lovable ear-licking episode. False beliefs and memories had repercussions; those seduced by the bad suggestions were not willing to pay as much for a Pluto souvenir. These findings are among the first to demonstrate that false beliefs can have repercussions for people, meaning that they can influence their later thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Criminology, Law & Society, University of California, Irvine 92697-7080, USA. sberkowi@uci.edu
authors.forename: Shari R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Berkowitz
authors.forename: Cara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Laney
authors.forename: Erin K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.forename: Maryanne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Garry
authors.forename: Elizabeth F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Loftus
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000378:Agonistic Behavior; D002140:California; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012094:Repression, Psychology