People were better at sidestepping misinformation and false memories when information was presented in their secondary language - Uchicago News
To test their hypothesis, researchers on two studies designed to plant false memories. In the first study, 120 native Mandarin Chinese speakers who also knew English were given a list of related words in both languages.
For example, participants were given: “dream,” “snooze,” “bed,” “rest,” etc. Critically, the word “sleep” was missing. This is what researchers call a “lure,” a common word purposely omitted to make your brain fill in the easy association. A perfect trap for making a false memory.
“Everybody makes that kind of inference,” Gallo said. “It's hard to remember if ‘sleep’ was spoken, or if you just imagined it.”
The participants were then asked to recall which words they remembered and, importantly, which related words were not on the list. This measured how well individuals were monitoring their memories.
“We found that people were less likely to falsely remember these missing words if they were presented in their secondary language compared to their native one,” Gallo said.
The second study looked at bilingualism’s role in the misinformation effect—when your memory of something is altered by information you learn afterward. This is particularly relevant in eyewitness testimony when conflicting reports can have tremendous consequences.