The Short Version
Decades of converging peer-reviewed research robustly support this claim. Multiple independent studies — including large-scale experiments with over 800 participants and neural imaging research — confirm that exposure to misleading post-event information can distort existing memories and generate entirely new false recollections. A 1991 methodological critique questions whether the mechanism involves true memory overwriting versus source misattribution, but this debate concerns how the effect operates, not whether it occurs. The claim accurately reflects the established scientific consensus.