Final answer:
In Frederick Bartlett's memory research, participants created distorted and culturally biased versions of a Native American story ( option b). This and other research, like that of Elizabeth Loftus, reveal that memory is reconstructive and susceptible to biases and misinformation, which has implications for understanding the reliability of eyewitness testimony.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the classic memory research conducted by Frederick Bartlett, participants did b) Created distorted and culturally biased versions of the story. Bartlett's study demonstrated that recall of information is subject to cultural influences and personal interpretation, leading to reconstructions that fit the individual's existing cognitive schemas rather than precise reproductions of the original event. The study underscored the reconstructive nature of memory, showing that people do not remember events exactly as they happened but often alter them in retrospect to fit their existing beliefs and expectations.
Elizabeth Loftus also contributed significantly to our understanding of memory through her works on false memories and the misinformation effect. Loftus' findings support the notion that our memories are not perfect recordings but malleable and subject to change, particularly when influenced by post-event information. This has important implications for eyewitness testimony and the reliability of memory recall in legal contexts.
The phenomenon of inaccurate and false memories is further evidenced in other domains, such as flashbulb memories, where significant events like the 9/11 attacks can be misremembered by even those intimately involved, such as President George W. Bush. Similarly, stereotypical bias and hindsight bias illustrate how pre-existing beliefs and the desire to see events as predictable can distort memory recollection.