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Using a Classroom-Based Deese Roediger McDermott Paradigm to Assess the Effects of Imagery on False Memories
Published on: November 14, 2018
Imagery encoding and false recognition errors: Examining the role of imagery process and imagery content on source
Mary Ann Foley1, Jeffrey Foy, Emily Schlemmer
1Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866, USA. mfoley@skidmore.edu
Memory (Hove, England)
|October 7, 2010
Summary
Imagery encoding influences source-monitoring errors. Spontaneous image generation leads to more errors, while deliberate image generation or simple naming reduces them, impacting memory accuracy.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Memory Research
Background:
- Source-monitoring errors occur when individuals misattribute the source of their memories.
- The Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm is a standard method for studying memory errors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how imagery encoding affects source-monitoring errors.
- To examine the role of spontaneous versus deliberate imagery in memory accuracy.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments used the Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm with mixed picture/word presentations.
- Participants engaged in different encoding tasks: generating images (objects/words) or naming items.
- A control condition involved spontaneous image induction.
Main Results:
- Participants frequently misattributed words as pictures, especially with spontaneous imagery.
- Deliberately generating word images reversed this error.
- Simply naming items eliminated source misattribution errors.
Conclusions:
- Source misattributions are influenced by the nature of imagery experiences (spontaneous vs. deliberate).
- The type of generated image (object vs. word) and presentation modality (picture vs. word) also affect memory accuracy.
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