Pluto behaving badly: False beliefs and their consequences

SHARI R. BERKOWITZ, CARA LANEY, AND ERIN K. MORRIS
University of California, Irvine

MARYANNE GARRY
Victoria University of Wellington

ELIZABETH F. LOFTUS
University of California, Irvine

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 earlicking 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.