Attempts to reduce the incidence of false recall with source monitoring.

In 5 experiments, the source-monitoring framework was applied to the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm, which has received so much interest recently. The authors' goal was to demonstrate that under certain conditions, when items in the DRM paradigm were learned from more than 1 origin, the incidence of false memories would decline. This result was obtained with internal–external reality monitoring conditions in free recall (Exps 1 and 3). With more confusable sources that required internal–internal or external–external discriminations, there was no reduction in false recall (Exps 2a and 4). In all experiments, participants were willing to assign an origin to their false memories, even when given an option to claim that they were not sure of its source (Exp 2b). The results are discussed in terms of how source-monitoring principles can sometimes reduce false memories in the DRM paradigm. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aging, source, and decision criteria: When false fame errors do and do not occur.

Two experiments investigated the influence of decision criteria on source memory performance of older adults and younger adults. Experiment 1 used the false fame paradigm, which encourages people to use relatively loose decision criteria when making what are, in essence, source judgments. Consistent with previous research, older adults made more false fame errors than younger adults. Experiment 2 was identical to Experiment 1 except that the fame judgments were made with the traditional source task format that encourages relatively stringent decision criteria when making source judgments: Possible sources were listed, and participants categorized names in terms of their source. In contrast to Experiment 1, older adults reduced their false fame errors to the level of younger adults. Encouraging older adults to use relatively stringent decision criteria when making source discriminations can reduce age differences in source misattributions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age differences in source forgetting: Effects on reality monitoring and on eyewitness testimony.

Age differences in memory for the source of memories were investigated using two different experimental paradigms. Experiment 1 used a reality monitoring paradigm. A series of actions were either performed, imagined, or watched, and subjects were later tested for their ability to recognize the actions and identify their origins. Elderly subjects made more false positive responses than did young subjects, and they made more source confusion errors, attributing actions to the wrong sources. Both new and imagined actions were most often misclassified as watched. Experiment 2 used an eyewitness testimony paradigm. After watching a film, subjects read a written version of the story. A recognition test showed that elderly subjects were more often misled by false information in the story than were the younger subjects, and were more confident that their erroneous responses were correct. The findings suggest that a decline in memory for sources may diminish the accuracy of elderly witnesses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measuring memory factors in source monitoring: Reply to Kinchla.

D. A. Kinchla (see record 1994-16291-001) criticizes W. H. Batchelder and D. M. Reifer's multinomial model for source monitoring, primarily its high-threshold assumptions, and advocates an approach based on statistical decision theory (SDT). The authors lay out some of the considerations that led to their model and then raise some specific concerns with Kinchla's critique. The authors point out that most of his criticisms are drawn from contrasting the high threshold and the Gaussian, equal-variance SDT models on receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves for yes-no recognition memory. The authors indicate how source monitioring is more complicated than yes-no recognition and question the validity of standard ROC analyses in source monitoring. The authors argue that their model is a good approximation for measuring differences between sources on old-new detection and that it has the ability to measure source discrimination as well as detection. The authors also explore a low-threshold multinomial model and discuss the application of SDT models to source monitoring. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memorial consequences of forced confabulation: age differences in susceptibility to false memories

Numerous studies have demonstrated that exposure to misinformation about a witnessed event can lead to false memories in both children and adults. The present study extends this finding by identifying forced confabulation as another potent suggestive influence. Participants from 3 age groups (1st grade, 3rd/4th grade, and college age) viewed a clip from a movie and were "forced" to answer questions about events that clearly never happened in the video they had seen. Despite evidence that participants would not have answered these questions had they not been coerced into doing so, 1 week later participants in all age groups came to have false memories for the details they had knowingly fabricated earlier. The results also showed that children were more prone to this memory error than were adults.     

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)     

Effects of aging on the neural correlates of successful item and source memory encoding.

To investigate the neural basis of age-related source memory (SM) deficits, young and older adults were scanned with fMRI while encoding faces, scenes, and face-scene pairs. Successful encoding activity was identified by comparing encoding activity for subsequently remembered versus forgotten items or pairs. Age deficits in successful encoding activity in hippocampal and prefrontal regions were more pronounced for SM (pairs) as compared with item memory (faces and scenes). Age-related reductions were also found in regions specialized in processing faces (fusiform face area) and scenes (parahippocampal place area), but these reductions were similar for item and SM. Functional connectivity between the hippocampus and the rest of the brain was also affected by aging; whereas connections with posterior cortices were weaker in older adults, connections with anterior cortices, including prefrontal regions, were stronger in older adults. Taken together, the results provide a link between SM deficits in older adults and reduced recruitment of hippocampal and prefrontal regions during encoding. The functional connectivity findings are consistent with a posterior-anterior shift with aging previously reported in several cognitive domains and linked to functional compensation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Response strategies in source monitoring.

Examines the role that response strategies play in a memory paradigm known as source monitoring. It is argued that several different response biases can interact to confound the interpretation of source-monitoring data. This problem is illustrated with 2 empirical examples, taken from the psychological literature, which examine the role of source monitoring in the generation effect and the picture superiority effect. To resolve this problem, a new multinomial model for source monitoring is presented that is capable of separately measuring memory factors from response-bias factors. The model, when applied to the results of 2 new experiments, results in a clearer picture of which source-monitoring variables are instrumental in the generation effect and picture superiority effect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of aging on susceptibility of low-density lipoproteins to oxidation

According to the Adult Treatment Panel of the National Cholesterol Education Program, age is a major risk factor for heart disease. To assess the relation between age and LDL oxidizability, we studied copper-mediated LDL oxidation in 13 healthy elderly subjects (> 59 years) and 13 sex-matched healthy young controls (< 30 years). Total and LDL-cholesterol concentrations were increased in elderly subjects. The time course of copper-mediated LDL oxidation showed no significant differences between the two groups as assessed by formation of conjugated dienes, lipid peroxides, and apolipoprotein B fluorescence. Kinetics of LDL oxidation as quantified by lag time, oxidation rate, and maximal oxidation were not significantly different between the elderly and young groups. Although the concentrations of 16:0, 18:0, 18:1, 18:3, and 20:4 and total polyunsaturated fatty acids were significantly higher in the elderly group, LDL fatty acid concentrations were similar in both groups. Lipid-standardized alpha-tocopherol, beta-carotene, and ascorbate concentrations were not significantly different between the two groups. The findings of the present study suggest that in the healthy elderly, LDL oxidation may not be a crucial mediator for atherogenesis.     

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)     

Response latencies for false memories: gist-based processes in normal aging

Three experiments have demonstrated that age-related increases in both probability and speed of false recognitions for word lists depended on the use of a gist-based memory strategy. When test conditions promoted a gist strategy, both younger and older participants were as likely to falsely recognize a thematically associated lure as to correctly recognize a studied item, and both groups were equally fast in making these decisions. However, when test conditions deemphasized a gist-based strategy, older adults were more likely than younger adults, and faster, to falsely recognize both strong and weakly associated lures. These findings suggest an age-related increase in reliance on gist-based processing that may underlie age differences in false memory.     

Age differences in conversational source monitoring.

The present investigation simulated a group conversation in which participants asked (inquirer) and answered (responder) questions, as well as listened to others exchange information. Source (inquirer; responder) identification accuracy was evaluated immediately or after 1 week. Older adults were less adept at source identification, although this difference was reduced with personal (Experiment 2) rather than categorical (Experiment 1) topics. The age difference was independent of explicit memory (cued recall and recognition), suggesting that memory for source and information are separable. Older adults were comparable to younger adults in responder identification but worse at inquirer identification. Responder identification was better than inquirer identification, with the latter dropping to chance at 1 week. Source identification was most accurate when participants were in the responder role; there was little difference between the inquirer and listener roles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Implicit gender stereotyping in judgments of fame.

Implicit (unconscious) gender stereotyping in fame judgments was tested with an adaptation of a procedure developed by L. L. Jacoby, C. M. Kelley, J. Brown, and J. Jasechko (1989). In Experiments 1–4, participants pronounced 72 names of famous and nonfamous men and women, and 24 or 48 hr later made fame judgments in response to the 72 familiar and 72 unfamiliar famous and nonfamous names. These first experiments, in which signal detection analysis was used to assess implicit stereotypes, demonstrate that the gender bias (greater assignment of fame to male than female names) was located in the use of a lower criterion (B) for judging fame of familiar male than female names. Experiments 3 and 4 also showed that explicit expressions of sexism or stereotypes were uncorrelated with the observed implicit gender bias in fame judgments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multinomial processing models of source monitoring.

This article presents a family of processing models for the source-monitoring paradigm in human memory. Source monitoring and the special case of reality monitoring have become very popular as paradigms to assess memory deficits in various subject populations. The paradigm provides categorical data that satisfy product-multinomial constraints, and this lends it nicely to multinomial modeling with processing-tree structures as described in D. M. Riefer and W. H. Batchelder (see record 1988-31527-001). The models developed herein are based on ideas from high-threshold signal-detection models, and they involve item-detection parameters, source-identification parameters, and various parameters reflecting guessing biases. The purpose of the models is to provide separate, theoretically based measures of old-item detection and source discrimination. The models may strengthen traditional analyses that are based on ad hoc statistics, as well as avoid flawed interpretations that the traditional analyses may produce. The usefulness of the models is revealed by analyzing published data sets from the areas of reality monitoring and bilingual memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Older adults' use of metacognitive knowledge in source monitoring: Spared monitoring but impaired control.

While episodic memory declines with age, metacognitive monitoring is spared. The current study explored whether older adults can use their preserved metacognitive knowledge to make source guesses in the absence of source memory. Through repetition, words from two sources (italic vs. bold text type) differed in memorability. There were no age differences in monitoring this difference despite an age difference in memory. Older adults used their metacognitive knowledge to make source guesses but showed a deficit in varying their source guessing based on word recognition. Therefore, older adults may not fully benefit from metacognitive knowledge about sources in source monitoring. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adherence to antiretroviral medications in HIV: Differences in data collected via self-report and electronic monitoring.

Controversy remains regarding the reliability of methods used to determine adherence to antiretroviral medication in HIV. In this study the authors compared adherence rates of 119 HIV-positive participants during a 6-month study, as estimated via electronic monitoring (EM) and self-report (SR). Adherence for both short (4-day) and long (4-week, or intervisit) periods was examined, as well as factors that underlie discrepancies between EM and SR. Results showed that intervisit EM estimates were consistently lower than those of SR. SR estimates based on shorter periods (4 days) were closer to those of EM. Higher discrepancies between EM and SR estimates were associated with lower cognitive functioning and externalized locus of control. These findings lend support for using both EM and SR methods; however, study design (e.g., length) and other factors (e.g., cognitive status, cost) should be considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual differences in utilizing control to cope with job demands: Effects on susceptibility to infectious disease.

This study examined the interactive effects of job demands, control, and individual characteristics on upper respiratory illnesses and immune function. Having high job control appeared to lessen the linkage between job demands and poor health among individuals with high self-efficacy and those who perceived that they were not often responsible for negative job outcomes. Conversely, having high job control exacerbated the association between job demands and poor health among inefficacious individuals. Implications for promoting more healthful work environments and facilitating employee coping are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contributions of inadequate source monitoring to unconscious plagiarism during idea generation.

Participants engaged in a creative idea-generation task that required them to monitor source to devise ideas not offered previously by others. In Experiment 1, inadvertent plagiarism (cryptomnesia) occurred more often when participants were generating ideas than when they were taking a recognition test. In Experiment 2, focusing participants on the origin of their ideas during generation resembled the focusing that occurs in recognition performance and reduced plagiarism. In Experiment 3, a speeded-response condition increased inadvertent plagiarism by mimicking conditions in which people cannot or do not adequately monitor source. In Experiment 4, plagiarism was reduced both when participants offered their new ideas in a one-on-one context as compared with a more anonymous group setting and when participants were specifically instructed to avoid plagiarism. The results are discussed in terms of source-monitoring decision criteria and the conscious and unconscious processes that support that monitoring. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of confidence and motivation on susceptibility to informational social influence.

"The general hypothesis… was that the individual's acceptance of the judgments of others varies as function of: (a) the relative confidence he has in his own judgment; and (b) his motivational orientation toward the task with which he was confronted… . conformity (as measured through a modified Crutchfield apparatus) was found to: (a) increase as the subjective probability that S was receiving information from the others increased; and (b) decrease as the frequency of errors made by the 'majority' increased. Motivational effects induced by the instruction that the task reflected the individual's intelligence resulted in a decrease in… [errors]." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Other centeredness and susceptibility to charitable appeals: Effects of perceived discipline.

Examined children's perceptions of induction and power assertion in maternal socialization practices in relationship to 4 facets of social concern or other-centeredness. 164 Ss from the 5th and 8th grades of a Catholic school participated. Perceived induction was positively correlated with reported importance of other-centered values, mature understanding of the meaning of kindness, and peer ratings of kindness and consideration. Perceived power assertion correlated negatively with perceived induction, but independently it has questionable value in the prediction of other-centeredness. Donations elicited under varying appeals were used as a behavioral measure of other-centeredness. Donations were more generous when the appeal was consistent with perceived socialization style. Ss with higher perceived induction were more generous under neutral and inductive appeal conditions but not under power-assertive appeals. Younger Ss gave more in the power appeal, while older Ss' donations increased with an inductive appeal. Implications for child rearing are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)