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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 4, 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

Remembering words not presented in lists: Can we avoid creating false memories?

D A Gallo¹, M J Roberts, J G Seamon

¹Department of Psychology, Wesleyan University, 06459-0408, Middletown, CT.

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review

|February 19, 2011

Summary

Forewarning participants about the DRM false memory illusion reduced, but did not eliminate, false recognition of critical lures. Participants given this information still exhibited memory errors.

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Published on: June 14, 2019

Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Memory Research

Background:

The Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm demonstrates a robust false recognition effect.
This effect involves falsely recognizing non-studied words semantically related to studied lists.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if forewarning can mitigate the false recognition effect in the DRM paradigm.
To examine the impact of different instructions (uninformed, cautious, forewarned) on memory errors.

Main Methods:

Participants studied semantically related word lists.
A recognition test included studied words, critical lures (semantically related non-studied words), and unrelated words.
Groups received different instructions regarding false alarms and critical lures.

Main Results:

Forewarned subjects showed a reduced false alarm rate for critical lures compared to uninformed and cautious groups.
Remember/know judgments were similar for recognized studied words and critical lures in the forewarned group.
False recognition of critical lures persisted across all groups, indicating the effect was not eliminated.

Conclusions:

Forewarning can partially reduce false memory creation in the DRM paradigm.
The false recognition effect remains a potent phenomenon even with awareness.
Further research is needed to explore methods for completely preventing this memory illusion.