The roles of associative strength and source memorability in the contextualization of false memory

We report an experiment examining the factors that produce false recognition in the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm. We selectively manipulated the probability that critical lures produce study items in free association, known as forward associative strength (FAS), while controlling the probability that study items produce critical lures in free association, known as backward associative strength (BAS). Results showed that false recognition of critical lures failed to differ between strong and weak FAS conditions. Follow-up correlational analyses further supported this outcome, showing that FAS was not correlated with false recognition, despite substantial variability in both variables across our stimulus sets. However, these correlational analyses did produce a significant and strong relationship between BAS and false recognition. These results support views that propose false memory is produced by activation spreading from study items to critical lures during encoding, which leads critical lures to be confused with episodically-experienced events.

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The Role of Language Proficiency in False Memory: A Mini Review

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.659434 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Mar Suarez ◽

Maria Soledad Beato

Keyword(s):

False Memory ◽

Associative Strength ◽

Language Proficiency ◽

Language Processing ◽

False Memories ◽

L2 Proficiency ◽

Memory Errors ◽

Theoretical Frameworks ◽

Current State

Memory errors and, specifically, false memories in the Deese/Roediger–McDermott paradigm have been extensively studied in the past decades. Most studies have investigated false memory in monolinguals’ native or first language (L1), but interest has also grown in examining false memories in participants’ second language (L2) with different proficiency levels. The main purpose of this manuscript is to review the current state of knowledge on the role of language proficiency on false memories when participants encode and retrieve information in the same language. To do so, a systematic literature search was conducted, and the available studies were reviewed. These studies differed in, for example, age, language proficiency, or material characteristics, including both high and low associative strength lists, and they reported different results. In this review, we attempted to make sense of the apparently contradictory results by carefully identifying participants’ language dominance and L2 proficiency. Specifically, the results indicated that, first, people are more prone to produce false memories in their dominant than in their non-dominant language. This result generalizes to lists with high and low associative strength, as well as to participants of different ages. Second, false memories do not differ between two languages when speakers are equally proficient in both languages. Finally, highly proficient L2 speakers produce more false memories in their L2 than speakers with lower L2 proficiency. The results of this review will be considered in the light of the theoretical frameworks of false memories and bilingual language processing.

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Age Differences in Hippocampus-Cortex Connectivity during True and False Memory Retrieval

Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society ◽

10.1017/s1355617713001069 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 19 (10) ◽

pp. 1031-1041 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Pedro M. Paz-Alonso ◽

Pamela Gallego ◽

Simona Ghetti

Keyword(s):

Functional Connectivity ◽

False Memory ◽

Associative Strength ◽

False Recognition ◽

Memory Retrieval ◽

Developmental Differences ◽

Middle Temporal Gyrus ◽

High Association ◽

Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽

Functional Patterns

AbstractThe present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study investigated developmental differences in functional connectivity associated with true and false memory retrieval. A sample of 8- to 9-year-olds and adults (N = 31) was assessed with the Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm, known to induce high levels of false recognition of lures that are semantically associated with studied items. The strength of semantic association among list items was manipulated. Relative to children, adults correctly recognized more studied items and falsely recognized more critical lures. High-association lists resulted in higher recognition of both studied items and critical lures. Functional connectivity analysis revealed that, overall, true recognition was supported by coupling within two hippocampal-temporal and fronto-parietal set of regions; in contrast, coupling among more distributed hippocampal-temporal-parietal-frontal regions was observed during false recognition. Critically, adults, compared to children, exhibited stronger hippocampal/parietal coupling and stronger hippocampal/dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) coupling for veridical recognition of high-associative strength items. In contrast, children, compared to adults, exhibited stronger hippocampus/ventrolateral PFC coupling and stronger bilateral middle-temporal gyrus/ventrolateral PFC coupling for high-associative strength critical lures. Our results underscored a role for the anterior hippocampus in true and false recognition, showing different functional patterns as a function of age and association strength. (JINS, 2013, 19, 1–11)

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