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Examining Recall Memory in Infancy and Early Childhood Using the Elicited Imitation Paradigm

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Published on: April 28, 2016

Does feigning amnesia impair subsequent recall?

Xue Sun¹, Paawan V Punjabi, Lucy T Greenberg

¹Department of Psychology, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT 06459, USA.

Memory & Cognition

|December 24, 2008

Summary

Feigning amnesia to avoid criminal responsibility may not impair later memory recall. This "feigned amnesia effect" might simply be due to less practice recalling information accurately.

Area of Science:

Psychology
Cognitive Psychology
Forensic Psychology

Background:

Individuals accused of serious crimes may feign amnesia to evade legal responsibility.
Prior research indicated that feigning amnesia could negatively impact subsequent memory recall.
The potential mnemonic consequences of feigning amnesia warrant empirical investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the impact of feigning amnesia on memory recall in a simulated criminal responsibility context.
To determine if feigning amnesia leads to lasting memory deficits or if it reflects differential practice effects.

Main Methods:

Two experiments were conducted where participants read and heard a story.
Participants either feigned amnesia or recalled accurately immediately after the story.

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Free and cued recall tests were administered immediately and one week later.

Main Results:

Participants who feigned amnesia initially recalled less information than those who recalled accurately.
Even after a week, participants who previously feigned amnesia showed poorer recall than those who always recalled accurately.
However, previously feigning amnesiacs performed similarly to a control group receiving only delayed recall.

Conclusions:

The "feigned amnesia effect" may not represent a true memory impairment.
The observed deficits are likely attributable to reduced practice in accurate recall, not genuine memory loss.
Feigning amnesia for a crime does not necessarily hinder future accurate memory retrieval for that event.