Recovered memories and false memories.

Review of book: Recovered Memories and False Memories by Martin A. Conway, New York: Oxford University Press, 1997, 301 pp. Reviewed by C. Brooks Brenneis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Directed forgetting of recently recalled autobiographical memories.

In 6 experiments, the authors investigated list-method directed forgetting of recently recalled autobiographical memories. Reliable directed forgetting effects were observed across all experiments. In 4 experiments, the authors examined the impact of memory valence on directed forgetting. The forget instruction impaired recall of negative, positive, and neutral memories equally, although overall, participants recalled fewer unemotional memories than emotional memories. The preexisting organization of memories enhanced the directed forgetting effect, and a release from forgetting occurred only when the forgotten memories were directly cued. The authors discuss the roles of emotion, retrieval dynamics, and organization in these effects and suggest that the directed forgetting of recently recalled autobiographical memories may reflect the inhibition of recently formed memories of remembering, that is, episodic inhibition. The authors consider the implications of these findings for the control of autobiographical remembering in everyday life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Collaboration reduces the frequency of false memories in older and younger adults.

Older (mean age = 74.23) and younger (mean age = 33.50) participants recalled items from 6 briefly exposed household scenes either alone or with their spouses. Collaborative recall was compared with the pooled, nonredundant recall of spouses remembering alone (nominal groups). The authors examined hits, self-generated false memories, and false memories produced by another person's (actually a computer program's) misleading recollections. Older adults reported fewer hits and more self-generated false memories than younger adults. Relative to nominal groups, older and younger collaborating groups reported fewer hits and fewer self-generated false memories. Collaboration also reduced older people's computer-initiated false memories. The memory conversations in the collaborative groups were analyzed for evidence that collaboration inhibits the production of errors and/or promotes quality control processes that detect and eliminate errors. Only older adults inhibited the production of wrong answers, but both age groups eliminated errors during their discussions. The partners played an important role in helping rememberers discard false memories in older and younger couples. The results support the use of collaboration to reduce false recall in both younger and older adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A global theory of remembering and forgetting from multiple lists.

Forgetting is frustrating, usually because it is unintended. Other times, one may purposely attempt to forget an event. A global theory of recognition and free recall that explains both types of forgetting and remembering from multiple list experiments is presented. The critical assumption of the model is that both intentional and unintentional forgetting are often due to contextual interference. Unintentional forgetting is the natural result of contextual changes between study and test. Intentional forgetting is accomplished by a rapid, metacognitively instigated change in mental context that renders to-be-forgotten information relatively inaccessible and renders to-be-remembered information more accessible (L. Sahakyan & C. M. Kelley, 2002). This occurs for both recognition and free recall. Implications for item-method directed forgetting, exclusion recognition, source memory, and encoding operations are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sensitivity reductions in false recognition: A measure of false memories with stronger theoretical implications.

Signal detection analyses of recognition memory indicate that a bias to respond "old" is large for critical words that are centrally related with previously encoded word lists, is small for words that are less related, and is not observed for unrelated words. Also, recognition sensitivity has not been previously shown to differ between those conditions, which has focused debate over how to explain false recognition on the bias differences. In 3 experiments, critical-word sensitivity was lower than sensitivity for other word types, but related-word sensitivity was not lower than sensitivity for unrelated words. Extant models that predict reduced critical-word sensitivity also predict lower sensitivity for related words than for unrelated words. These results provide crucial new constraints on theoretical explanations of false memories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Amount of postcue encoding predicts amount of directed forgetting.

In list-method directed forgetting, participants are cued to intentionally forget a previously studied list (List 1) before encoding a subsequently presented list (List 2). Compared with remember-cued participants, forget-cued participants typically show impaired recall of List 1 and improved recall of List 2, referred to as List 1 forgetting and List 2 enhancement. In 3 experiments, we examined how amount of postcue encoding influences directed forgetting. Two results emerged dissociating List 1 forgetting from List 2 enhancement. First, an increase in amount of postcue encoding led to an increase in List 1 forgetting but did not affect List 2 enhancement. Second, the forget cue influenced all List 1 items but affected only early List 2 items. A 2-mechanism account of directed forgetting is suggested, according to which List 1 forgetting reflects reduced accessibility of List 1 items, and List 2 enhancement arises from a reset of encoding processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Directed forgetting meets the production effect: Distinctive processing is resistant to intentional forgetting.

The production effect refers to the fact that, relative to reading a word silently, reading a word aloud during study improves explicit memory. The authors tested the distinctiveness account of this effect using the item method directed forgetting procedure. If saying words aloud makes them more distinctive, then they should be more difficult to forget on cue than should words read silently. Participants studied a list of words by reading half aloud and half silently; half of the words in each of these subsets were followed by a Remember instruction and half were followed by a Forget instruction. There was a robust production effect for both Remember and Forget words on an explicit recognition test. Critically, however, a directed forgetting effect was observed only for words read silently; words read aloud at study were unaffected by memory instruction. An implicit speeded reading test showed equal priming for all studied items. This pattern supports a distinctiveness account of the production effect: Words processed distinctively during production are not influenced by subsequent rehearsal differences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of intentional forgetting in reducing children's retroactive interference.

Preschool and kindergarten children's retention of stories was examined in the presence of interfering information and instructions to forget. Children learned 2 stories and, 24 hr later, were asked to recall the 1st or 2nd story learned. Some of the children were instructed, either following acquisition or just prior to the retention test to forget the 2nd, or interfering, story. A model was used to isolate storage and retrieval effects, and the results showed that (a) retroactive interference affected both storage- and retrieval-based forgetting rates for the younger children but only storage-based forgetting rates for the older children, (b) intentional forgetting reduced retroactive interference primarily by attenuating storage-based forgetting regardless of age, (c) intentional forgetting instructions were effective only at acquisition for preschoolers but at both acquisition and retention for kindergarteners, and (d) all children recalled the to-be-forgotten story as well as they recalled the to-be-remembered story. These results are interpreted in terms of reorganization and distinctiveness effects in storage. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Associative relatedness enhances recall and produces false memories in immediate serial recall.

The influence of permanent lexical network in immediate serial recall is well established. The corresponding influence of permanent semantic networks is less clear, although such networks are known to both facilitate memory in long-term memory tasks and to produce false memories in those same tasks. The current experiment involves the study of Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) lists for immediate serial recall. The trials in the experiment involved presenting the six strongest items from the DRM lists either in intact associatively related lists or where those items had been randomly mixed to produce unrelated lists. The results of the experiment indicated that the associatively related lists were better recalled in order than unrelated lists and the nonpresented critical lure was falsely recalled relatively frequently. The results of the experiment confirm the importance of associative semantic networks in short-term memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age-related binding deficits and the content of false memories.

The authors examined effects of age-related binding deficits on feature information in false memories for imagined objects (e.g., lollipop) that were similar in shape to seen objects (e.g., magnifying glass). In Experiment 1, location memory for seen objects was lower in older than younger adults and lower still in old-old than young-old adults. Imagined objects, when falsely called seen, were less likely to be attributed to the location of similar seen objects (i.e., congruent attributions) by old-old than young-old adults. In Experiment 2, for younger adults, displaying seen objects for less time (1 s vs. 4 s) reduced both location memory for seen objects and congruent attributions for false memories. Thus, binding deficits may influence the specific content of false memories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Blinded by emotion? Effect of the emotionality of a scene on susceptibility to false memories.

Although distortion is commonly present in memory, the relation between the emotionality of a witnessed scene and susceptibility to mistaken memories is controversial. Participants (N = 90; aged 17-43 years) were recruited for research focusing on "emotional processing" and were not informed that their memories were being investigated. Then, they viewed either a highly positive, neutral, or highly negative emotional scene (e.g., graphic fatal accident) from the International Affective Picture System (e.g., Lang, Bradley, & Cuthbert, 1999). Half of participants were exposed to misleading questions--one of which included a major false suggestion (i.e., large animal in the scene). An hour later all participants were asked to recall the scene and asked 10 direct questions, five of which related to the misinformation provided earlier. Overall, misleading questions impaired recall accuracy by 37%. Further, negative emotion increased susceptibility to false memories for the major misinformation. Whereas 0% of nonmisled participants in any condition recalled seeing the major false detail, misled participants in the negative condition recalled seeing the major false detail more often (80%) than those in the positive (40%) and neutral (40%) conditions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adults' memories of childhood: True and false reports.

In 3 experiments, the authors examined factors that, according to the source-monitoring framework, might influence false memory formation and true/false memory discernment. In Experiment 1, combined effects of warning and visualization on false childhood memory formation were examined, as were individual differences in true and false childhood memories. Combining warnings and visualization led to the lowest false memory and highest true memory. Several individual difference factors (e.g., parental fearful attachment style) predicted false recall. In addition, true and false childhood memories differed (e.g., in amount of information). Experiment 2 examined relations between Deese/Roediger-McDermott task performance and false childhood memories. Deese/Roediger-McDermott performance (e.g., intrusion of unrelated words in free recall) was associated with false childhood memory, suggesting liberal response criteria in source decisions as a common underlying mechanism. Experiment 3 investigated adults' abilities to discern true and false childhood memory reports (e.g., by detecting differences in amount of information as identified in Experiment 1). Adults who were particularly successful in discerning such reports indicated reliance on event plausibility. Overall, the source-monitoring framework provided a viable explanatory framework. Implications for theory and clinical and forensic interviews are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intentional forgetting can increase, not decrease, residual influences of to-be-forgotten information.

Intentionally forgotten information remains in memory at essentially full strength, as measured by recognition and priming, but access to that information is impaired, as measured by recall. Given that pattern, it seemed plausible that intentionally forgotten information might have a greater impact on certain subsequent judgments than would intentionally remembered information. In 2 experiments, participants cued to forget nonfamous names were subsequently more likely to make false attributions of fame to those names than were participants instructed to remember them. These findings implicate retrieval inhibition as a potent factor in the interplay of recollection and priming in memory and judgment. They also point to possible unintended consequences of instructions to forget, suppress, or disregard in legal or social settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Affective valence influences participant's susceptibility to false memories and illusory recollection.

This study examined the influence of emotional valence on the production of DRM false memories (Roediger & McDermott, 1995). Participants were presented with neutral, positive, or negative DRM lists for a later recognition (Experiment 1) or recall (Experiment 2) test. In both experiments, confidence and recollective experience (i.e., “Remember-Know” judgments; Tulving, 1985) were also assessed. Results consistently showed that, compared with neutral lists, affective lists induced more false recognition and recall of nonpresented critical lures. Moreover, although confidence ratings did not differ between the false remembering from the different kinds of lists, “Remember” responses were more often associated with negative than positive and neutral false remembering of the critical lures. In contrast, positive false remembering of the critical lures was more often associated with “Know” responses. These results are discussed in light of the Paradoxical Negative Emotion (PNE) hypothesis (Porter, Taylor, & ten Bricke, 2008). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intentional forgetting as a facilitator for recalling new product attributes.

When market changes alter what product attributes are deemed important, consumers may intentionally try to forget old product information in an attempt to remember new product information. In Experiment 1, the authors demonstrated that intentional forgetting of this nature temporarily inhibits retrieval of old product information and leads to a benefit to memory for new product information. The results show that, after a short delay, benefits continue in the absence of costs, which is supportive of a multiple-process account of intentional forgetting. Experiment 2 extends these effects using an advertising message to stimulate forgetting. Across both experiments, results also show that brand preference is based on learning of new attribute information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

False memories in children and adults: Age, distinctiveness, and subjective experience.

This study investigated developmental trends associated with the Deese/Roediger-McDermott false-memory effect, the role of distinctive information in false-memory formation, and participants' subjective experience of true and false memories. Children (5- and 7-year-olds) and adults studied lists of semantically associated words. Half of the participants studied words alone, and half studied words accompanied by pictures. There were significant age differences in recall (5-year-olds evinced more false memories than did adults) but not in recognition of critical lures. Distinctive information reduced false memory for all age groups. Younger children provided with distinctive information, and older children and adults regardless of whether they viewed distinctive information, expressed higher levels of confidence in true than in false memories. Source attributions did not significantly differ between true and false memories. Implications for theories of false memory and memory development are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aging and strategic retrieval processes: Reducing false memories with a distinctiveness heuristic.

The authors show that a strategic retrieval process--the distinctiveness heuristic--is a powerful mechanism for reducing false memories in the elderly. Individuals studied words, pictures, or both types of items and then completed a recognition test on which the studied items appeared once, whereas the new words appeared twice. After studying either pictures only or a mixture of pictures and words, both younger and older adults falsely recognized fewer repeated new words than did participants who studied words. Studying pictures provided a basis for using a distinctiveness heuristic during the recognition test: Individuals inferred that the absence of memory for picture information indicates that an item is "new." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparing recollective experience in true and false autobiographical memories.

This study investigated whether true autobiographical memories are qualitatively distinct from false autobiographical memories using a variation of the interview method originally reported by E. F. Loftus and J. Pickrell (1995). Participants recalled events provided by parents on 3 separate occasions and were asked to imagine true and false unremembered events. True memories were rated by both participants and observers as more rich in recollective experience and were rated by participants as more important, more emotionally intense, as having clearer imagery, and as less typical than false memories. Rehearsal frequency was used as a covariate, eliminating these effects. Imagery in true memories was most often viewed from the field perspective, whereas imagery in false memories was most often viewed from the observer perspective. More information was communicated in true memories, and true memories contained more information concerning the consequences of described events. Results suggest repeated remembering can make false memories more rich in recollective experience and more like true memories. Differences between true and false memories suggest some potentially distinct characteristics of false memories and provide insight into the process of false memory creation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Directed forgetting: Comparing pictures and words.

The authors investigated directed forgetting as a function of the stimulus type (picture, word) presented at study and test. In an item-method directed forgetting task, study items were presented 1 at a time, each followed with equal probability by an instruction to remember or forget. Participants exhibited greater yes–no recognition of remember than forget items for each of the 4 study–test conditions (picture–picture, picture–word, word–word, word–picture). However, this difference was significantly smaller when pictures were studied than when words were studied. This finding demonstrates that the magnitude of the directed forgetting effect can be reduced by high item memorability, such as when the picture superiority effect is operating. This suggests caution in using pictures at study when the goal of an experiment is to examine potential group differences in the magnitude of the directed forgetting effect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Examining differences in the levels of false memories in children and adults using child-normed lists.

Several previous studies have demonstrated that children, when compared with adults, exhibit both lower levels of veridical memory and fewer intrusions when given semantically associated lists. However, researchers have drawn these conclusions using semantically associated word lists that were normed with adults, which may not lead to the same level of activation or gist generation in children. In the current study, the authors used similar associative word lists normed with children and then evaluated the memory of children and adults using these newly normed lists as well as the typical adult-normed lists. Results indicate that children showed lower true and false memories with both the child-normed and adult-normed lists. Thus, these data suggest that the negative relationship between age and false memories in the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM; J. Deese, 1959; H. L. Roediger & K. B. McDermott, 1995) paradigm is not an artifact of the age group used to construct the lists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)