The effect of memory schemata on memory and the phenomenological experience of naturalistic situations

Investigating the neural basis of schematic false memories by examining schematic and lure pattern similarity

ABSTRACTSchemas allow us to make assumptions about the world based upon previous experiences and aid in memory organisation and retrieval. However, a reliance on schemas may also result in increased false memories to schematically related lures. Prior neuroimaging work has linked schematic processing in memory tasks to activity in prefrontal, visual, and temporal regions. Yet, it is unclear what type of processing in these regions underlies memory errors. The current study examined where schematic lures exhibit greater neural similarity to schematic targets, leading to this memory error, as compared to neural overlap with non-schematic lures, which, like schematic lures, are novel items at retrieval. Results showed that patterns of neural activity in ventromedial prefrontal cortex, medial frontal gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, hippocampus, and occipital cortices exhibited greater neural pattern similarity for schematic targets and schematic lures than between schematic lures and non-schematic lures. As such, results suggest that schematic membership, and not object history, may be more critical to the neural processes underlying memory retrieval in the context of a strong schema.

Investigating the neural basis of schematic false memories by examining schematic and lure pattern similarity

Schemas allow us to make assumptions about the world based upon previous experiences and aid in memory organization and retrieval. However, a reliance on schemas may also result in increased false memories to schematically related lures. Prior neuroimaging work has linked schematic processing in memory tasks to activity in prefrontal, visual, and temporal regions. Yet, it is unclear what type of processing in these regions underlies memory errors. The current study examined where schematic lures exhibit greater neural similarity to schematic targets, leading to this memory error, as compared to neural overlap with non-schematic lures, which, like schematic lures, are novel items at retrieval. Results showed that patterns of neural activity in ventromedial prefrontal cortex, medial frontal gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, hippocampus, and occipital cortices exhibited greater neural pattern similarity for schematic targets and schematic lures than between schematic lures and non-schematic lures. As such, results suggest that schematic membership, and not object history, may be more critical to the neural processes underlying memory retrieval in the context of a strong schema.

Social feedback biases emerge during recall but not prediction and shift across the development of social anxiety

Memory is a reconstructive process that can result in events being recalled as more positive or negative than they actually were. While positive recall biases may contribute to well-being, negative recall biases may promote internalizing symptoms, such as social anxiety. Adolescence is characterized by increased salience of peers and peak incidence of social anxiety. Symptoms often wax and wane before becoming more intractable during adulthood. Open questions remain regarding how and when biases for social feedback are expressed and how individual differences in biases may contribute to social anxiety across development. Two studies used a social feedback and cued response task to assess biases about being liked or disliked when retrieving memories vs. making predictions. Findings revealed a robust positivity bias about memories for social feedback, regardless of whether memories were true or false. Moreover, memory bias was associated with social anxiety in a developmentally sensitive way. Among adults (study 1), more severe symptoms of social anxiety were associated with a negativity bias. During the transition from adolescence to adulthood (study 2), age strengthened the positivity bias in those with less severe symptoms and strengthened the negativity bias in those with more severe symptoms. These patterns of bias were isolated to perceived memory retrieval and did not generalize to predictions about social feedback. These results provide initial support for a model by which schemas may infiltrate perceptions of memory for past, but not predictions of future, social events, shaping susceptibility for social anxiety, particularly during the transition into adulthood.

Encoding-phase orientation toward thematic content over perceptual style benefits picture memory

Orienting toward the meaning versus perceptual features of an experience benefits subsequent memory. Yet given that past work encouraged these orientations with different tasks, it is not clear if this memory benefit is solely due to internal processing factors versus external task-related ones. Moreover, it remains unclear how this benefit generalises from verbal to detailed picture memory. Here, we developed a novel paradigm that cued participants' attention to thematic (story) or stylistic (artist style) dimensions of storybook-style illustrations during a repeat-detection task. Afterwards, participants completed a recognition memory test with studied illustrations and lures along thematic and stylistic dimensions. In contrast to past work, both orienting tasks were identical except for the dimension participants were cued to attend to. Furthermore, our thematic and stylistic dimensions enabled us to separately examine memory quality along each dimension. We found that thematic attention yielded superior memory for studied illustrations over stylistic orientations. False alarms to lures varied by dimension and attention: errors were greater to thematic than stylistic lures overall and stylistic attention elevated false alarms to stylistic lures. Our results show that semantic encoding orientations enhance detailed picture memory, without a cost to memory quality along semantic or perceptual dimensions of experience.

Schematic information influences memory and generalisation behaviour for schema-relevant and -irrelevant information

Schemas modulate memory performance for schema-congruent and -incongruent information. However, it is assumed they do not influence behaviour for information irrelevant to themselves. We assessed memory and generalisation behaviour for information related to an underlying pattern, where a schema could be extracted (schema-relevant), and information that was unrelated and therefore irrelevant to the extracted schema (schema-irrelevant). Using precision measures of long-term memory, where participants learnt associations between words and locations around a circle, we assessed memory and generalisation for schema-relevant and -irrelevant information. Words belonged to two semantic categories: human-made and natural. For one category, word-locations were clustered around one point on the circle (clustered condition), while the other category had word-locations randomly distributed (non-clustered condition). The presence of an underlying pattern in the clustered condition allows for the extraction of a schema that can support both memory and generalisation. At test, participants were presented with old (memory) and new (generalisation) words, requiring them to identify a remembered location or make a best guess. The presence of the clustered pattern modulated memory and generalisation. In the clustered condition, participants placed old and new words in locations consistent with the underlying pattern. In contrast, for the non-clustered condition, participants were less likely to place old and new non-clustered words in locations consistent with the clustered condition. Therefore, we provide evidence that the presence of schematic information modulates memory and generalisation for schema-relevant and -irrelevant information. Our results highlight the need to carefully construct appropriate schema-irrelevant control conditions such that behaviour in these conditions is not modulated by the presence of a schema. Theoretically, models of schema processing need to account for how the presence of schematic information can have consequences for information that is irrelevant to itself.

Novel Approaches and Cognitive Neuroscience Perspectives on False Memory and Deception

The DRM (Deese-Roediger-McDermott) paradigm produces robust false memories of non-presented critical words. After studying a thematic word list (e.g., bed, rest, and pillow) participants falsely remember the critical item "sleep." We report two false memory experiments. Study One introduces a novel use of the lexical decision task (LDT) to prime critical words. Participants see two letter-strings and make timed responses indicating whether they are both words. The word pairs Night-Bed and Dream-Thweeb both prime "sleep" but only one pair contains two words. Our primary purpose is to introduce this new methodology via two pilot experiments. The results, considered preliminary, are promising as they indicate that participants were as likely to recognize critical words (false memories) and presented words (true memories) just as when studying thematic lists. Study Two actually employs the standard DRM lists so that semantic priming is in play there as well. The second study, however, uses functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to measure activity in the prefrontal cortex during a DRM task which includes a deception phase where participants intentionally lie about critical lures. False and true memories occurred at high levels and activated many of the same brain regions but, compared to true memories, cortical activity was higher for false memories and lies. Accuracy findings are accompanied by confidence and reaction time results. Both investigations suggest that it is difficult to distinguish accurate from inaccurate memories. We explain results in terms of activation-monitoring theory and Fuzzy Trace Theory. We provide real world implications and suggest extending the present research to varying age groups and special populations. A nagging question has not been satisfactorily answered: Could neural pathways exist that signal the presence of false memories and lies? Answering this question will require imaging experiments that focus on regions of distinction such as the anterior prefrontal cortex.

The influence of semantic context on false memories

Although false memories have largely been examined with the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm, little research has focused on the semantic context in which associates are encoded. Across three experiments, we varied semantic context during a sentence-processing task with DRM associates embedded within sentences. More meaningful sentences resulted in greater memory errors (Experiment 1). Furthermore, providing contextual information to discriminate old from new items did not reduce false alarms relative to encoding words in isolation when sentences converged on the meaning of the critical lure (Experiment 2), and actually increased memory errors (Experiment 3). These results suggest that semantic context that allows for meaningful relational processing of items within-lists and that converge on the semantic meaning of the critical lure increases the likelihood that the list theme is identified, resulting in more errors at test.

The Effect of Passively Viewing a Consent Campaign Video on Attitudes Toward Rape

Around 90% of rape victims know their perpetrator, making acquaintance rape the most common form of rape, contradicting societal beliefs. There is ambiguity about the meaning and use of consent in sexual scenarios (Beres, 2007). This study used a mixed methods approach to test the effectiveness of a campaign video aimed at increasing understanding of consent. We assessed whether the video affected rape judgments in vignettes depicting consensual or non-consensual sexual scenarios. We also manipulated whether making consent the primary or secondary question influenced attitudes. Text responses were also obtained to gain an insight into participant reasoning. The campaign showed no increase in rape judgments. Making consent primary in question order did lead to greater accuracy in rape judgment. A content analysis of the free-text responses indicated that the presence of the campaign actually reduced people's use of consent in explaining why a scenario may represent rape: Instead they focused on the attractiveness of the attacker. These results are discussed in relation to the effectiveness of passively viewing campaign material.

Differentiating True and False Schematic Memories in Older Adults

OBJECTIVE

While schemas aid memory for schematically related information, the gist induced by the schema can also lead to high rates of false memories, especially in older adults. The neural mechanisms that support and differentiate true and false memories in aging are not well understood. The current study sought to clarify this, using a novel scene paradigm to investigate the role of schemas on true and false memories in older adults.

METHODS

Healthy older adults encoded schematic scenes (e.g., bathroom). At retrieval, participants were tested on their memory for both schematic and nonschematic targets and lures while functional magnetic resonance imaging data was collected.

RESULTS

Results indicate that true memories were supported by the typical retrieval network, and activity in this network was greater for true than false memories. Schema specific retrieval was supported by medial prefrontal cortex, extending this common finding to aging. While no region differentiated false memories compared to correct rejections, results showed that individual differences in false memory rates were associated with variability in neural activity.

DISCUSSION

The findings underscore the importance of elucidating the neural basis of cognition within older adults, as well as the specific contribution of individual differences to the neural basis of memory errors in aging.

How language and event recall can shape memory for time

How do we represent the duration of past events that we have conceptualized through language? Prior research suggests that memory for duration depends on the segmental structure perceived at encoding. However, it remains unclear why duration memory displays characteristic distortions and whether language-mediated encoding can further distort duration memory. Here we examine these questions and specifically ask whether the amount of event information recalled relative to the stimulus duration explains temporal distortions. In several studies, participants first studied animated stimuli described by phrases implying either fast or slow motion (e.g., a mule vs car going up a road). They then mentally reproduced the stimuli from memory (as if replaying them in their minds) and verbally recalled them. We manipulated the amount of stimulus study and the type of recall cue (visual vs linguistic) to assess the role of language and information recalled on the length of mental reproductions. Results indicated that the density of the information recalled (number of details recalled per second) explained temporal distortions: higher density events were lengthened and lower density events were shortened. Moreover, language additionally lengthened or shortened duration reproductions when phrases cued the task, suggesting that episodic details and verbal conceptual features were combined during recollection rather than encoding. These results suggest that the density of the details recalled and language-mediated recollection shape memory for event duration. We argue that temporal memory distortions stem from event encoding and retrieval mechanisms. Implications of these findings for theories of time, memory and language are discussed.

Word Familiarity Modulated the Effects of Category Familiarity on Memory Performance

Previous studies have shown that prior knowledge can have both enhancing and detrimental effects on memory for relevant information. Few studies have explored the boundary conditions under which prior knowledge facilitates or interferes with memory processes. In addition, to what extent the effects of prior knowledge change over time is unclear. In this study, we addressed this question by separating category familiarity (i.e., prior conceptual knowledge) and stimulus familiarity at different retention intervals. Participants were tested with a recognition task after they learned four types of words, that is., familiar words from familiar categories (FwordFcate) and unfamiliar categories (FwordUcate) as well as unfamiliar words from familiar (UwordFcate) and unfamiliar categories (UwordUcate). The results showed a significant interaction between category familiarity and word familiarity, that is, unfamiliar words, but not familiar words, from familiar categories were remembered better than those from unfamiliar categories. The enhancing effect of category familiarity depended on the recollection process and remained stable over time. This study suggested that stimulus familiarity modulates the effects of category familiarity on memory performance, and clarified the boundary conditions for the effects of prior knowledge.

Embedded interruptions and task complexity influence schema-related cognitive load progression in an abstract learning task

Cognitive processes related to schema acquisition comprise an essential source of demands in learning situations. Since the related amount of cognitive load is supposed to change over time, plausible temporal models of load progression based on different theoretical backgrounds are inspected in this study. A total of 116 student participants completed a basal symbol sequence learning task, which provided insights into underlying cognitive dynamics. Two levels of task complexity were determined by the amount of elements within the symbol sequence. In addition, interruptions due to an embedded secondary task occurred at five predefined stages over the task. Within the resulting 2x5-factorial mixed between-within design, the continuous monitoring of efficiency in learning performance enabled assumptions on relevant resource investment. From the obtained results, a nonlinear change of learning efficiency over time seems most plausible in terms of cognitive load progression. Moreover, different effects of the induced interruptions show up in conditions of task complexity, which indicate the activation of distinct cognitive mechanisms related to structural aspects of the task. Findings are discussed in the light of evidence from research on memory and information processing.

There was not, they did not: May negation cause the negated ideas to be remembered as existing?

In this article we demonstrate that negation of ideas can have paradoxical effects, possibly leading the listener to believe that the negated ideas actually existed. In Experiment 1, participants listened to a description of a house, in which some objects were mentioned, some were negated, and some were not mentioned at all. When questioned about the existence of these objects a week later, the participants gave more false positives for items that were negated in the original material than for items that were not mentioned at all, an effect we call negation related false memories (NRFM). The NRFM effect was replicated again in Experiment 2 with a sample of five and six year-old children. Experiment 3 confirmed NRFM in the case of negated actions. The results are discussed in terms of retention hypothesis, as well as the theory that negation can activate a representation of an entity and behaviour. It is also indicated that future research is needed to ensure that it is indeed negation which caused false alarms, not merely mentioning an object.

What's the gist? The influence of schemas on the neural correlates underlying true and false memories

The current study used a novel scene paradigm to investigate the role of encoding schemas on memory. Specifically, the study examined the influence of a strong encoding schema on retrieval of both schematic and non-schematic information, as well as false memories for information associated with the schema. Additionally, the separate roles of recollection and familiarity in both veridical and false memory retrieval were examined. The study identified several novel results. First, while many common neural regions mediated both schematic and non-schematic retrieval success, schematic recollection exhibited greater activation in visual cortex and hippocampus, regions commonly shown to mediate detailed retrieval. More effortful cognitive control regions in the prefrontal and parietal cortices, on the other hand, supported non-schematic recollection, while lateral temporal cortices supported familiarity-based retrieval of non-schematic items. Second, both true and false recollection, as well as familiarity, were mediated by activity in left middle temporal gyrus, a region associated with semantic processing and retrieval of schematic gist. Moreover, activity in this region was greater for both false recollection and false familiarity, suggesting a greater reliance on lateral temporal cortices for retrieval of illusory memories, irrespective of memory strength. Consistent with previous false memory studies, visual cortex showed increased activity for true compared to false recollection, suggesting that visual cortices are critical for distinguishing between previously viewed targets and related lures at retrieval. Additionally, the absence of common visual activity between true and false retrieval suggests that, unlike previous studies utilizing visual stimuli, when false memories are predicated on schematic gist and not perceptual overlap, there is little reliance on visual processes during false memory retrieval. Finally, the medial temporal lobe exhibited an interesting dissociation, showing greater activity for true compared to false recollection, as well as for false compared to true familiarity. These results provided an indication as to how different types of items are retrieved when studied within a highly schematic context. Results both replicate and extend previous true and false memory findings, supporting the Fuzzy Trace Theory.

Mental Schemas Hamper Memory Storage of Goal-Irrelevant Information

Mental schemas exert top-down control on information processing, for instance by facilitating the storage of schema-related information. However, given capacity-limits and competition in neural network processing, schemas may additionally exert their effects by suppressing information with low momentary relevance. In particular, when existing schemas suffice to guide goal-directed behavior, this may actually reduce encoding of the redundant sensory input, in favor of gaining efficiency in task performance. The present experiment set out to test this schema-induced shallow encoding hypothesis. Our approach involved a memory task in which faces had to be coupled to homes. For half of the faces the responses could be guided by a pre-learned schema, for the other half of the faces such a schema was not available. Memory storage was compared between schema-congruent and schema-incongruent items. To characterize putative schema effects, memory was assessed both with regard to visual details and contextual aspects of each item. The depth of encoding was also assessed through an objective neural measure: the parietal old/new ERP effect. This ERP effect, observed between 500–800 ms post-stimulus onset, is thought to reflect the extent of recollection: the retrieval of a vivid memory, including various contextual details from the learning episode. We found that schema-congruency induced substantial impairments in item memory and even larger ones in context memory. Furthermore, the parietal old/new ERP effect indicated higher recollection for the schema-incongruent than the schema-congruent memories. The combined findings indicate that, when goals can be achieved using existing schemas, this can hinder the in-depth processing of novel input, impairing the formation of perceptually detailed and contextually rich memory traces. Taking into account both current and previous findings, we suggest that schemas can both positively and negatively bias the processing of sensory input. An important determinant in this matter is likely related to momentary goals, such that mental schemas facilitate memory processing of goal-relevant input, but suppress processing of goal-irrelevant information.

Reported serial positions of true and illusory memories in the Deese/Roediger/McDermott paradigm

One of the easiest ways to induce illusory memories in the laboratory is to use the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) word-list paradigm. Researchers have used this paradigm not only to study people's memories of stimuli that were not actually presented, but also to study the phenomenological qualities of these illusions. In four experiments, the current investigation explored a phenomenological quality of illusory memories that has received almost no attention, specifically, temporality. A serial position task was incorporated into the DRM paradigm to examine temporal attributes of participants' true and false memories. Effects of list strength, presentation order, and types of warnings were examined. Results showed consistent serial position responses for true and false memories. However, only responses for illusory memories were affected by manipulations at study. The current findings thus lend support to encoding-based explanations of false recollections.

The cultural life script as cognitive schema: how the life script shapes memory for fictional life stories

We tested, across three studies, the effect of the cultural life script on memory and its phenomenological properties. We focused in particular on the mnemonic effects of both schema-consistency and frequency in the life script. In addition to testing recognition (in Study 1) and recall (in Studies 2 and 3), we also collected remember/know judgements for remembered events (in Studies 1 and 2) and memory for their emotional valence (in Study 2). Our primary finding was that, across all three studies, higher-frequency events were more memorable than lower-frequency events, as measured through either recognition or recall. We also attained three additional, complementary effects: First, schema-inconsistent events received remember ratings more often than schema-consistent events (in Study 2, with a trend to this effect in Study 1); second, where an event's emotional valence was inconsistent with the life script, memory for its valence was reconstructed to fit the script (in Study 2); and, third, intrusions in recall were disproportionately for life script events (in Study 3), although that was not the case in recognition (in Study 1). We conclude that the life script serves as a cognitive schema in how it shapes memory and its phenomenological properties.

Memory for radio advertisements: the effect of program and typicality

We examined the influence of the type of radio program on the memory for radio advertisements. We also investigated the role in memory of the typicality (high or low) of the elements of the products advertised. Participants listened to three types of programs (interesting, boring, enjoyable) with two advertisements embedded in each. After completing a filler task, the participants performed a true/false recognition test. Hits and false alarm rates were higher for the interesting and enjoyable programs than for the boring one. There were also more hits and false alarms for the high-typicality elements. The response criterion for the advertisements embedded in the boring program was stricter than for the advertisements in other types of programs. We conclude that the type of program in which an advertisement is inserted and the nature of the elements of the advertisement affect both the number of hits and false alarms and the response criterion, but not the accuracy of the memory.

The influence of thematic congruency, typicality and divided attention on memory for radio advertisements

We examined the effects of the thematic congruence between ads and the programme in which they are embedded. We also studied the typicality of the to-be-remembered information (high- and low-typicality elements), and the effect of divided attention in the memory for radio ad contents. Participants listened to four radio programmes with thematically congruent and incongruent ads embedded, and completed a true/false recognition test indicating the level of confidence in their answer. Half of the sample performed an additional task (divided attention group) while listening to the radio excerpts. In general, recognition memory was better for incongruent ads and low-typicality statements. Confidence in hits was higher in the undivided attention group, although there were no differences in performance. Our results suggest that the widespread idea of embedding ads into thematic-congruent programmes negatively affects memory for ads. In addition, low-typicality features that are usually highlighted by advertisers were better remembered than typical contents. Finally, metamemory evaluations were influenced by the inference that memory should be worse if we do several things at the same time.

Strong shared representations promote schema-consistent memory errors in groups

We created the conditions necessary for cognitive representations to develop by presenting individuals and groups with word lists consisting of items high and low in associative strength. Strong cognitive representations were found to promote more schema-consistent memory errors than weaker representations. Moreover, strong cognitive representations resulted in more of these errors for groups than individuals. Weak cognitive representations, in contrast, resulted in fewer of these errors for groups than individuals. We find that variation in the frequency of memory errors between individuals and groups is influenced by the strength of shared representations that interfere with the ability of groups to correct schema-consistent memory errors among their members. Further analyses suggest that strong shared representations also aid correct recall relative to weak shared representations. We conclude that despite general advantages of collaboration, select circumstances that allow for strong shared representations may promote schema-consistent memory errors in groups.

The schema provokes a disparity of false recollection between actions and objects in an everyday scene

We explored the effect of the schema on recognition memories and subjective experiences for actions and objects in an everyday scene. At first, participants watched slides of a man cooking in a kitchen. The man performed schema-consistent actions, and schema-consistent objects were left. After watching the slides, participants completed a recognition test, a remember/know test, and a Perception/Thought/Emotion/Context questionnaire. We confirmed three main results. First, participants made more false recognitions for schema-consistent distracters than for schema-inconsistent distracters with more "remember" judgments accompanied by perceptual, thought, and contextual details, and with more "know" judgments. Second, participants made more false recognitions for schema-consistent object distracters than for schema-consistent action distracters. Third, participants more frequently recognized schema-consistent action targets than schema-consistent object targets with more "remember" judgments. Both action memory and object memory were reconstructed under the schema, provoking false recognitions for schema-consistent distracters. However, the memories of schema-consistent action targets were so recollective that they could prevent false recognitions for schema-consistent action distracters.

Consolidation differentially modulates schema effects on memory for items and associations

Newly learned information that is congruent with a preexisting schema is often better remembered than information that is incongruent. This schema effect on memory has previously been associated to more efficient encoding and consolidation mechanisms. However, this effect is not always consistently supported in the literature, with differential schema effects reported for different types of memory, different retrieval cues, and the possibility of time-dependent effects related to consolidation processes. To examine these effects more directly, we tested participants on two different types of memory (item recognition and associative memory) for newly encoded visuo-tactile associations at different study-test intervals, thus probing memory retrieval accuracy for schema-congruent and schema-incongruent items and associations at different time points (t = 0, t = 20, and t = 48 hours) after encoding. Results show that the schema effect on visual item recognition only arises after consolidation, while the schema effect on associative memory is already apparent immediately after encoding, persisting, but getting smaller over time. These findings give further insight into different factors influencing the schema effect on memory, and can inform future schema experiments by illustrating the value of considering effects of memory type and consolidation on schema-modulated retrieval.

Trait expectancies and stereotype expectancies affect person memory similarly in a jury context

This experiment, a simulated trial study, examined whether trait expectancies and stereotype expectancies similarly affected memory for expectancy-relevant behaviors. Participants read a description of a defendant, which was followed by testimony that induced a trait or stereotype expectancy. After viewing the evidence items and giving a guilt judgment, the participants were asked to recall as many of the evidence items as they could and to complete a thought listing measure. The results showed that, when overtly applied to the defendant, trait expectancies and stereotype expectancies had similar effects, producing incongruity effects on recall. Additional analyses examining the participants' post-hoc reports of the thoughts that they had as they processed the behaviors provided little evidence that subjects attempted to reconcile items or attempted to reconcile the items with the expectancy.

Schematic knowledge changes what judgments of learning predict in a source memory task

Source monitoring can be influenced by information that is external to the study context, such as beliefs and general knowledge (Johnson, Hashtroudi, & Lindsay, 1993). We investigated the extent to which metamnemonic judgments predict memory for items and sources when schematic information about the sources is or is not provided at encoding. Participants made judgments of learning (JOLs) to statements presented by two speakers and were informed of the occupation of each speaker either before or after the encoding session. Replicating earlier work, prior knowledge decreased participants' tendency to erroneously attribute statements to schematically consistent but episodically incorrect speakers. The origin of this effect can be understood by examining the relationship between JOLs and performance: JOLs were equally predictive of item and source memory in the absence of prior knowledge, but were exclusively predictive of source memory when participants knew of the relationship between speakers and statements during study. Background knowledge determines the information that people solicit in service of metamnemonic judgments, suggesting that these judgments reflect control processes during encoding that reduce schematic errors.

Remembering and Knowing Personality Traits

In two experiments, the effect of category salience on retrieval experience was investigated. In Experiment 1, participants rated typicality or concreteness of personality traits that differed in stereotype reference (i.e., consistent, inconsistent, and neutral in relation to the age stereotype). More remember judgments were given for consistent and inconsistent traits in contrast to neutral traits, thereby indicating a figure/ground asymmetry. In Experiment 2, neutral traits were excluded and a classical figure/ground phenomenon was demonstrated for the retrieval experience of traits (i.e., reversibility of an ambiguous figure after typicality and untypicality ratings). Altogether, the results suggest that metacognitive trait representations depend on principles of figure/ground asymmetries rather than on functional principles of social information processing.

Global gist extraction in children and adults

The DRM paradigm was used to examine the role of global gist extraction in producing false memories in children and adults. First-graders, third-graders, and adults watched a videotape of a woman reading seven DRM lists, and then took a recognition memory test. Blocked (vs random) presentation and instructions to attend to the theme of lists were manipulated to enhance gist processing. In the first experiment, blocked presentation increased false recognition relative to random presentation in adults but not in first-graders or third-graders. In the second experiment, instructions to attend to list themes increased false recognition in third-graders and not in adults or first-graders. The results suggest a developmental pattern in which children become more adept at global gist extraction as they get older. These results are consistent with fuzzy trace theory's prediction of better gist processing as children grow older.

Importing perceived features into false memories

False memories sometimes contain specific details, such as location or colour, about events that never occurred. Based on the source-monitoring framework, we investigated one process by which false memories acquire details: the reactivation and misattribution of feature information from memories of similar perceived events. In Experiments 1A and 1B, when imagined objects were falsely remembered as seen, participants often reported that the objects had appeared in locations where visually or conceptually similar objects, respectively, had actually appeared. Experiment 2 indicated that colour and shape features of seen objects were misattributed to false memories of imagined objects. Experiment 3 showed that perceived details were misattributed to false memories of objects that had not been explicitly imagined. False memories that imported perceived features, compared to those that presumably did not, were subjectively more like memories for perceived events. Thus, perception may be even more pernicious than imagination in contributing to false memories.

The consistency of false suggestions moderates children’s reports of a single instance of a repeated event: Predicting increases and decreases in suggestibility

Participants (6- and 7-year-olds, N=130) participated in classroom activities four times. Children were interviewed about the final occurrence (target event) either 1 week or 4 weeks later, during which half of the event items were described inaccurately. Half of these suggestions were consistent with the theme of the detail across the occurrences (e.g., always sat on a kind of floor mat) or were inconsistent (e.g., sat on a chair). When memory for the target event was tested 1 day later, children falsely recognized fewer inconsistent suggestions than consistent suggestions, especially compared with a control group of children who experienced the event just one time. Furthermore, the longer delay reduced accuracy only for consistent suggestions. Source-monitoring ability was strongly and positively related to resistance to suggestions, and encouraging children to identify the source of false suggestions allowed them to retract a significant proportion of their reports of inconsistent suggestions but not of consistent suggestions. The results suggest that the gist consistency of suggestions determines whether event repetition increases or decreases suggestibility.

The perception of integrality: remembering through the validation of expectation

Five experiments investigated the role of sentence context in influencing recognition decisions. Sentence stems were presented only in the study phase, only in the test phase, or in both; in addition, the coherence of the sentences was varied, such that terminal words were highly constrained by, merely consistent with, or actually incongruous with their stems. These stimulus combinations produced 4 unique patterns of response. These patterns are difficult to explain through encoding and retrieval alone; they seem also to require an understanding of the principles by which people react subjectively to their own processing. The results are discussed in terms of the differential effects of definite expectations developed in past experiences versus indefinite expectations developed in the moment of remembering.

What's in a Name for Memory Errors? Implications and Ethical Issues Arising From the Use of the Term "False Memory" for Errors in Memory for Details

The term "false memories" has been used to refer to suggestibility experiments in which whole events are apparently confabulated and in media accounts of contested memories of childhood abuse. Since 1992 psychologists have increasingly used the term "false memory" when discussing memory errors for details, such as specific words within lists. Use of the term to refer to errors in details is a shift in language away from other terms used historically (e.g., "memory intrusions"). We empirically examine this shift in language and discuss implications of the new use of the term "false memories." Use of the term presents serious ethical challenges to the data-interpretation process by encouraging over-generalization and misapplication of research findings on word memory to social issues.

Generative processing and false memories: when there is no cost

Encoding manipulations (e.g., levels of processing) that facilitate retention often result in greater numbers of false memories, a pattern referred to as the more is less effect (M. P. Toglia, J. S. Neuschatz, & K. A. Goodwin, 1999). The present experiments explored false memories under generative processing. In Experiments 1-3, using Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) lists with items that were either read or generated, the authors found recognition and recall tests indicated generation effects for true memories but no increases in false memories (i.e., generation at no cost). In Experiment 4, in a departure from the DRM methodology, a cuing procedure resulted in a more is less pattern for congruous generation,and a no cost pattern for incongruous generation. This highlights the critical distinction between these encoding contexts.

The influence of schemas, stimulus ambiguity, and interview schedule on eyewitness memory over time

The authors examined how a crime schema influenced the types of details witnesses recalled over multiple interviews that varied in delay before the initial interview and between subsequent interviews. Accuracy data showed that, in general, schema-irrelevant traces experienced greater decay than schema-consistent and schema-inconsistent traces after the initial interview and that delaying the initial interview negatively affected recall at the initial interview but led to less decay over subsequent interviews. Ambiguity of the crime stimulus was also manipulated. Witnesses used their schema to interpret ambiguous information and, as a result, made more schema-consistent intrusions and less correct responses and were more likely to report false memories that involved conscious recollection (using the remember-know paradigm).