The Lost in the Mall experiment

The Lost in the Mall experiment was a psychological study conducted by Elizabeth Loftus in the 1990s. It aimed to see if people could be led to develop false memories of being lost in a shopping mall as children. Participants received a booklet with real childhood events, and one false story about being lost in a mall was added. Over time, some participants came to believe and even vividly recall this false experience. The study demonstrated that memories can be influenced and manipulated, showing how easily people can develop detailed, yet inaccurate, memories of events that never happened.