Chapter 1. False Memory
1.1 Introduction
False Memory
This experiment is a replication of one performed by Roediger and McDermott (1995) in which explicit memory for lists of items is tested. Work from these researchers has been used to create normed lists of stimuli referred to as DRM lists (Deese, Roediger, McDermott lists).
1.2 Experiment Setup
1.3 Instructions
Instructions
You will need to press the space bar to begin the experiment. A fixation mark will then appear in the center of the screen. Please focus on this mark. After a brief pause, six words will appear, one by one, in the center of the screen. There will be six blocks of six words each. After each block, you will be given a recall test in which you will be asked to produce from memory as many of the words you just saw as you can. At the end of all six blocks, there will be a recognition test for all of the lists in which you will be presented with both words previously seen and words that were not previously presented. You will be asked whether you saw the word during the earlier portion of the experiment.
Keyboard Responses
For recall tests:
Type in the words you remember using the keyboard.
For recognition tests:
| Key | What Response Means |
|---|---|
| Y | Yes, I saw the word during the study. |
| N | No, I didn’t see the word during the study. |
1.4 Experiment
Begin Experiment
1.5 Results
Results
1.6 Debriefing
Debriefing
This study replicates the original Roediger and McDermott study examining memory for lists of semantically related items. Overall, semantically (e.g., thematically) related list items were remembered well. The more interesting part of the story is what happened to items not on the study lists. Roediger and colleagues found that participants often reported items not on the study list. Specifically, participants reported having seen the “critical lure,” a semantically related but not presented item.
Roediger and colleagues conducted research that contributed to a greater understanding of the plasticity of memory processes. Encoding, retrieval, and re-retrieval all have the potential to change the memory representation. When information is recalled, it is subject to distortions or modifications and is updated with the new, possibly distorted information (see also The Misinformation Effect, based on Loftus and Chance (1974), for another example.). Constructive memory is a subarea of memory researchconcerned with this process. Memories for information that was not presented are also referred to as false memories.
References:
Deese, J. (1959). On the prediction of occurrence of particular verbal intrusions in immediate recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 58, 17-22.
Roediger, H. L., & McDermott, K. B. (1995). Creating false memories: Remembering words not presented in lists. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 21, 803-814.
Roediger, H. L., & McDermott, K. B. (1999). False alarms and false memories. Psychological Review, 106(2), 406-410.
1.7 Quiz
Quiz