Categorical and associative relations increase false memory relative to purely associative relations (original) (raw)
Related papers
Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 2017
In this study, the number of semantic associates in Deese–Roediger–McDermott (DRM) lists was varied from 4 to 14 in a modified Sternberg paradigm. The false alarm (FA) and correct rejection (CR) reaction time (RT)/memory-set size (MSS) functions of critical lures showed a cross-over interaction at approximately MSS 7, suggesting a reversal of the relative dominance between these two responses to the critical lure at this point and also indicating the location of the boundary between the sub- and supraspan MSS. For the subspan lists, FA to critical lures was slower than CR, suggesting a slow, strategic mechanism driving the false memory. Conversely, for the supraspan lists, critical lure FA was faster than its CR, suggesting a spontaneous mechanism driving the false memory. Results of two experiments showed that an automatic, fast, and a slow, controlled process could be error-prone or error-corrective, depending on the length of the DRM memory list. Thus there is a dual retrieval pr...
Journal of Memory and Language, 2005
Veridical and false memory were examined in lists that contained 12 words that all converged onto the same meaning of a critical nonpresented word (e.g., snooze, wake, bedroom, slumber. . . , for SLEEP) or lists that contained 6 words that converged onto one meaning and 6 words that converged onto a different meaning of a homograph (e.g., stumble, season, trip, autumn. . . , for FALL). Associative strength from the list items to the critical item was equated across the two types of lists. In Experiments 1-5, patterns of veridical memory differed across the two types of lists; however, false memory of the critical item did not differ. This same pattern occurred regardless of whether the words diverging onto the two meanings of the homograph were presented blocked or intermixed, whether each list item was presented for 80 ms, 200 or 1200 ms during encoding, and whether a recall or recognition test was given. In Experiment 6, critical nonpresented items that followed lists converging onto one meaning were judged as more strongly related to the list. These results suggest that false memory in the DRM paradigm largely reflects lexical/associative activation, rather than the formation of a meaningful thematic representation.
Memory, 2013
The main aim of this study was to analyse the roles played by associative activation and thematic extraction in the explanation of false memories using the Deese, Roediger, McDermott (DRM) paradigm. Associative lists with two different types of critical items (CIs) were used: one, the associative CI, corresponded to the word most strongly primed by the associates in the list and another, the thematic CI, was the word that best described the theme of the list. Following three different types of encoding instructions (standard, warning or strategic), false recognition for these two types of CIs was analysed in either self-paced or speeded response recognition tests. The results showed considerable levels of false memories for both types of CIs. Even without the quality of being "good themes", associative CIs produced high levels of false recognition, which suggests that associative activation plays a prominent role in false memory formation. More interestingly, thematic CIs were more prone to be edited out, reinforcing the argument that thematic identifiability has a major role in the rejection of false memories.
Frontiers in Psychology, 2021
The use of list-learning paradigms to explore false memory has revealed several critical findings about the contributions of similarity and relatedness in memory phenomena more broadly. Characterizing the nature of “similarity and relatedness” can inform researchers about factors contributing to memory distortions and about the underlying associative and semantic networks that support veridical memory. Similarity can be defined in terms of semantic properties (e.g., shared conceptual and taxonomic features), lexical/associative properties (e.g., shared connections in associative networks), or structural properties (e.g., shared orthographic or phonological features). By manipulating the type of list and its relationship to a non-studied critical item, we review the effects of these types of similarity on veridical and false memory. All forms of similarity reviewed here result in reliable error rates and the effects on veridical memory are variable. The results across a variety of pa...
False recall in the Deese–Roediger–McDermott paradigm: The roles of gist and associative strength
The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 2011
Theories of false memories, particularly in the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm, focus on word association strength and gist. Backward associative strength (BAS) is a strong predictor of false recall in this paradigm. However, other than being defined as a measure of association between studied list words and falsely recalled non-presented critical words, there is little understanding of this variable. In Study 1, we used a knowledge type taxonomy to classify the semantic relations in DRM stimuli. These knowledge types predicted false recall probability, as well as BAS itself, with the most important being situation features, synonyms, and taxonomic relations. In three subsequent studies, we demonstrated that lists comprised solely of situation features can elicit a gist and produce false memories, particularly when monitoring processes are made more difficult. Our results identify the semantic factors that underlie BAS and suggest how considering semantic relations leads to a better understanding of gist formation. technique, originally used by Deese (1959a), has resulted in robust rates of false recall and recognition across numerous studies. Commonly known as the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm, participants are presented with word lists comprised of the strongest associates of a critical non-presented word, as determined by word association norms. On subsequent recall and recognition tests, participants tend to intrude the nonpresented critical word as having been studied previously.
Journal of Memory and Language, 2003
The present experiments assessed false memories for critical items (e.g., dog) following the presentation of semantic associates (e.g., hound, puppy), phonological associates (e.g., log, dot), or hybrid lists of semantic and phonological associates (e.g., hound, dot). Experiment 1 indicated that the addition of only three phonological associates to a list of 10 semantic associates doubled the recall of non-presented critical items. Experiment 2 indicated that embedding 18 semantic associates and 18 phonological associates within a single list led to greater false recall than the sum of the false recall effects produced by lists containing 18 semantic associates or lists containing 18 phonological associates. Experiment 3 explored this over-additivity and indicated that lists of 8 semantic associates and 8 phonological associates produced greater false recall and false recognition than the average produced in lists containing 16 semantic or 16 phonological associates. These studies provide converging evidence that lists of semantic and phonological associates produce over-additive false recall and false recognition of non-presented critical items relative to pure semantic or pure phonological lists. An activationmonitoring framework is presented that provides an account of the increased false memories elicited by hybrid lists of semantic and phonological associates. Experiment 3 also showed that the experience of remembering during recognition was driven more by semantic factors, whereas the experience of knowing was driven more by phonological factors.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 1999
Veridical memory for presented list words and false memory for nonpresented but related items were tested using the Deese/Roediger and McDermott paradigm. The strength and density of preexisting connections among the list words, and from the list words to the critical items, were manipulated. The likelihood of producing false memories in free recall varied with the strength of connections from the list words to the critical items but was inversely related to the density of the interconnections among the list words. In contrast, veridical recall of list words was positively related to the density of the interconnections. A final recognition test showed that both false and veridical memories were more likely when the list words were more densely interconnected. The results are discussed in terms of an associative model of memory, Processing Implicit and Explicit Representations (PIER 2) that describes the influence of implicitly activated preexisting information on memory performance.
Item-specific processing reduces false memories
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 2004
We examined the effect of item-specific and relational encoding instructions on false recognition in two experiments in which the DRM paradigm was used (Deese, 1959; Roediger & McDermott, 1995). Type of encoding (item-specific or relational) was manipulated between subjects in Experiment 1 and within subjects in Experiment 2. Decision-based explanations (e.g., the distinctiveness heuristic) predict reductions in false recognition in between-subjects designs, but not in within-subjects designs, because they are conceptualized as global shifts in decision criteria. Memory-based explanations predict reductions in false recognition in both designs, resulting from enhanced recollection of item-specific details. False recognition was reduced following item-specific encoding instructions in both experiments, favoring a memory-based explanation. These results suggest that providing unique cues for the retrieval of individual studied items results in enhanced discrimination between those studied items and critical lures. Conversely, enhancing the similarity of studied items results in poor discrimination among items within a particular list theme. These results are discussed in terms of the item-specific/ relational framework (Hunt & McDaniel, 1993).
Norms for word lists that create false memories
Memory & Cognition, 1999
induced false recall and false recognition for words that were not presented in lists. They had subjects study 24 lists of 15words that were associates of a common word (called the critical target or critical lure) that was not presented in the list. False recall and false recognition of the critical target occurred frequently in response to these lists. The purpose of the current work was to provide a set of normative data for the lists Roediger and McDermott used and for 12 others developed more recently. We tested false recall and false recognition for critical targets from 36 lists. Despite the fact that all lists were constructed to produce false remembering, the diversity in their effectiveness was large-6O% or more of subjects falsely recalled window and sleep following the appropriate lists, and false recognition for these items was greater than 800A>. However, the list generated from king led to 10% false recall and 27% false recognition. Possible reasons for these wide differences in effectiveness of the lists are discussed, These norms serve as a useful benchmark for designing experiments about false recall and false recognition in this paradigm. designed experiments to study false recall and false recognition that were based on a technique first used by . In a series of experiments in the late 1950s, was interested in learning how associative factors affected recall. Deese (1959a) presented subjects with 15-word lists that varied in their interitem associative strength, "defined as the average relative frequency with which all items in a list tend to elicit all other items in the same list as free associates" (p. 305), He showed that this measure correlated highly (+.88) with the number of items recalled from the list but negatively with the number of extralist intrusions that subjects produced ( -.48). However, the stronger the associative bonds between list items, the more likely were subjects to produce the same common associate as an intrusion (+.55). In summary, lists ofwords that were strongly interassociated tended to produce accurate recall; when an intrusion did occur for these lists, it was likely to be highly similar among subjects.
Psychological Thought, 2020
False memories are memories that people believe indeed correspond to actual events from the past. Experimental investigation of false memories involves varied methodologies, including semantic and category associate technique. While the category method depends on the frequency of intra-list items, semantic associate measures semantic association of intra-list items. The present study compares false memory generation through category and semantic associates. Additionally, the mode of retrieval (recall, recognition) and retention interval (short, long) were manipulated to measure their effect on false memory generation. The result of the study suggests that retention interval and mode of retrieval did influence false memories generated using words (semantic associates) and line drawings (category associates).