Are there age-related differences in social suggestibility to central and peripheral misinformation?

Background/Study Context: Dalton and Daneman (2006, Memory, 14, 486–501) showed that young adults can be induced to accept misinformation from a co-witness, even if it contradicts central features of a previously witnessed event. This study investigated whether older adults are also susceptible to social suggestion, and if so, whether to the same or different degree as their younger counterparts. The study also investigated whether participants were more likely to succumb to suggestions delivered by a peer or an older figure. Methods: Younger and older adults viewed an action video in the presence of a younger or older confederate co-witness. During a postevent discussion, the confederate introduced misinformation about central and peripheral features of the co-witnessed event. Finally, participants responded to true-false statements about the event and rated how confident they were in their decisions. Results: Older adults were able to correctly reject false statements about an event that had been mentio...