Juana was certain that the man she saw in the police photograph was the man who stole her purse. Later, another man confessed to the crime. This is an example of

• A. decay.
• B. retrograde amnesia.
• C. a false positive.
• D. repression.

Answer: (C)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand the context: Juana identified a man in a police photograph as the thief, but another man later confessed to the crime.
2. Identify the psychological concept: This situation involves a memory error where Juana incorrectly identified someone as the perpetrator.
3. Consider the options: Decay refers to the fading of memory over time, retrograde amnesia involves loss of past memories, and repression is the unconscious blocking of distressing memories.
4. Focus on 'false positive': In psychology, a false positive occurs when a person incorrectly identifies or recalls something that did not happen or is not true.
5. Conclude that Juana's situation is an example of a false positive, as she mistakenly identified the wrong person as the thief.