Autobiographical Elaboration and the DRM Illusion: Investigating the Content and Process of Lure Activations

Is it all in the details? Description content and false recognition errors

In three experiments, we examined the effect of embellished content on memory errors for thematically related items as well as whether an encoding manipulation, specifically instructions to visualize content, further affects those errors. Using a modified Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm, participants listened to subsets of DRM items embedded within scene descriptions. Some descriptions embellished item connections, weaving them into cohesive scenes. Other descriptions only made general reference to scenes, mentioning the items in list-like format. Listening to more detailed descriptions, compared to general scene references, elicited higher false recognition errors (Experiments 1 and 3). However, when description details varied within the same encoding series, as expected, false recognition errors did not differ significantly (Experiments 2 and 3). Results further suggest that more detailed content was more vividly imagined, providing one possible mechanism for increases in false recognition (Experiment 3). Implications for theoretical discussions of encoding task effects on false recognition errors are discussed.

Reflecting on how we remember the personal past: missing components in the study of memory appraisal and theoretical implications

The current paper offers a selective review of the study of memory appraisal, focusing on recollections of the personal past, with the goal to bring attention to a missing component in this study. To date, memory appraisal studies have concentrated on participants' assessments of the content of their personal recollections (e.g., their perceptual detail and story-like feel), including beliefs about the accuracy of that content. Participants' assessments of reflection processes accompanying their recollections (e.g., a sense of piecing-together recollection fragments) have yet to be extensively examined. The lack of information on process-based appraisals is related to prior studies' procedural constraints (e.g., kinds of cue prompts and their timing, minimal opportunities for reflection). Reasons for addressing this missing component provide the central themes of the paper. The reasons emerge from the analysis of autobiographical cueing studies, including integration of narrative research studies and autobiographical works. The analysis leads to suggestions for future research involving the use of personal narratives that are intended to address critiques of reconstruction accounts and unresolved questions in the study of memory appraisal.

Looking forward: the effects of photographs on the qualities of future thinking

Future episodic thinking relies on the reconstruction of remembered experiences. Photographs provide one means of remembering, acting as a "cognitive springboard" for generating related memory qualities. We wondered whether photographs would also invite embellishment of future thought qualities, particularly in the presence (or absence) of associated memories. In two studies participants generated future events in familiar (associated memories) and novel (no associated memories) locations. Half of the participants viewed scene location photographs during event generation. All participants then imagined the events for one minute and completed a self-report measure of content qualities. Results of the current set of studies suggested that for novel locations, no differences in qualities emerged; however, for familiar locations, photographs did not enhance qualities and, in some cases, actually constrained perceptual (Experiments 1 and 2) and sensory (Experiment 1) detail ratings of future thoughts. Thus, photographs did not invite embellishment of future thought details.

False memories and the DRM paradigm: effects of imagery, list, and test type

Several researchers have reported that instructing participants to imagine items using the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm lowers false memory rates (Foley, Wozniak, & Gillum, 2006). However, other researchers have found that imagery does not always lower false memory rates (Robin, 2010), and investigators have examined the effects of imagery manipulation on semantic but not phonological lists. In the present study, we presented 102 participants with semantic and phonological DRM lists, followed by a free recall test and final recognition test. Some participants received instructions to imagine list items during the study phase to facilitate memory, and others were simply told to remember list items. Imagery instructions enhanced correct memories and further suggested a trend for decreased false memories. A test type by list type interaction also emerged, with phonological lists eliciting higher false memories at recall, and semantic lists eliciting higher false memories at recognition. Directions for future research are discussed.