Many of the experimental participants who were asked how fast two cars in a filmed traffic accident were going when they smashed into each other subsequently recalled seeing broken glass at the scene of the accident. This experiment best illustrated

A) proactive interference.
B) mnemonic devices.
C) the spacing effect.
D) the misinformation effect.

The experiment described in the question is a classic demonstration of the misinformation effect, which refers to the distortion of memory that occurs when people are exposed to misleading information after an event. In this case, the misinformation (i.e. the question about broken glass) led participants to recall information that was not actually present in the original event. Proactive interference refers to the interference that occurs when previously learned information makes it difficult to remember new information, mnemonic devices are memory aids used to enhance recall, and the spacing effect refers to the phenomenon that we tend to remember information better when it is presented over spaced intervals rather than all at once. None of these concepts are directly relevant to the experiment described in the question.