Remember when you were a kid and saw Bugs Bunny at Disneyland?
More than 30 percent of people in a recent psychological study said they did, although Bugs has never been to the “Happiest Place on Earth” because he’s not a Disney character.
The study showed how easy it is to plant false memories in people’s minds.
The research is important because it suggests that crime investigators can easily contaminate witnesses’ memories.
In police interrogations, “much of what goes on – unwittingly – is contamination,” said Elizabeth Loftus, a psychologist at the University of California-Irvine.
And media contamination is even more prevalent, Loftus said.