Abstract
In the present study, I examined the effects of presentation modality, consequentiality, and collaboration on the veracity judgments of others’ memories for childhood events (N = 143, 72% female, age M = 21.30, SD = 3.40). Accuracy of individually-made veracity judgments was higher when participants read transcripts of the memory reports compared to when they watched the videotaped reports. Consequentiality did not significantly affect judgment accuracy; however, participants in the serious consequence conditions rated nonverbal cues as more important for their judgment. Participants who were more accurate in veracity judgments rated true memories higher on clarity, plausibility, typicality, consistency, confidence, and distinctiveness compared to false memories; whereas less accurate participants rated false memories higher on the same memory characteristics. Group deliberation resulted in more accurate group judgment of false memories and an increase in overall confidence of their judgments after deliberation.