... be automatic and has the consequence of removing any previously existing knowledge that is contradicted by the new information. Hence, according to Loftus, forgetfulness is due to a potential loss of memory. A Question of Inaccessibility However, Bekerian and Bowers (1983) and Christiaansen and Ochalek (1983) contended that the original information is not lost from memory, but is merely rendered inaccessible or non-retrievable. Bekerian and Bowers argued that in Loftus's studies, the recognition test items are presented in random order and not in the order in which the queried information occurred in the original slide sequence. Thus the retrieval environment does not closely match the original encoding environment. The misleading information effect may occur because subjects are unable to access the original information effectively under these conditions and instead retrieve the postevent information. They found that if the test reinstated the original environment more fully, subjects are able to access ...

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