Suggestibility
The tendency to take in ideas suggested by others, such as the hints hidden in leading questions, and then remember them as part of what really happened. Young children are especially prone to it.
In everyday life
Your doctor asks, 'The pain gets worse after meals, doesn't it?' and you start to recall that it does, though you had never noticed before.
Your manager asks, 'That client sounded pretty angry on the call, didn't she?' and from then on you remember her as hostile, though at the time you thought she was calm.
Why your mind does this
Memory is rebuilt each time we recall it, which lets us update what we know with new information. Revisiting a memory also strengthens it, so the things we return to often become the easiest to reach. This keeps our knowledge current without storing every version of every event.
Its family, in 30 seconds: Edited memories
How to spot it
Watch for questions that already contain an answer, like 'wasn't it...' or 'didn't he...'.
How to counter it
When someone asks you a leading question, restate it neutrally in your head, such as 'how did she sound?', before you answer.
Same family: Edited memories
SourcesCeci & Bruck (1993)·Wikipedia