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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 5, 2026

The Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) Task: A Simple Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate False Memories in the Laboratory

The Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) Task: A Simple Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate False Memories in the Laboratory

Published on: January 31, 2017

Part-list cuing and the dynamics of false recall.

Daniel R Kimbal¹, Elizabeth L Bjork, Robert A Bjork

¹Department of Psychology, University of Texas, Arlington, Texas 76019, USA. dkimball@uta.edu

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review

|May 21, 2008

Summary

False recall can be reduced by presenting early-studied semantic associates as cues. This effect, termed part-list cuing, depends on prohibiting recall of the cues themselves for optimal memory retrieval.

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Memory Research

Background:

False recall, or recalling non-presented words, occurs with semantic associates.
Part-list cuing can reduce false recall, but the underlying mechanisms are debated.

Purpose of the Study:

To differentiate episodic and semantic contributions to false recall reduction.
To investigate the impact of cue serial position and associative strength on false recall.

Main Methods:

Factorial manipulation of cue serial position (early vs. late) and associative strength.
Comparison of false recall with and without cue recall permitted.

Main Results:

Early-studied cues significantly reduced false recall when cue recall was prohibited, irrespective of associative strength.
Late-studied cues did not reliably reduce false recall.
When cue recall was permitted, neither early nor late cues reduced false recall.

Conclusions:

Selective episodic strengthening during study links critical words and early-studied words.
The findings highlight the role of episodic memory in reducing false recall via part-list cuing.