Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

False Memories01:18

False Memories

False memories represent a cognitive distortion in which individuals recall events that did not happen, or remember them in an altered form. This phenomenon highlights the brain's constructive nature in processing and recalling memories, emphasizing that memory is not a perfect representation of past events but rather a dynamic reconstruction influenced by various factors.
One primary source of false memories is misattribution, where individuals incorrectly associate external information with...
Self-Evaluation: Self-Enhancement and Self-Verification03:00

Self-Evaluation: Self-Enhancement and Self-Verification

Social psychologists have documented that feeling good about ourselves and maintaining positive self-esteem is a powerful motivator of human behavior (Tavris & Aronson, 2008). In the United States, members of the predominant culture typically think very highly of themselves and view themselves as good people who are above average on many desirable traits (Ehrlinger, Gilovich, & Ross, 2005). Often, our behavior, attitudes, and beliefs are affected when we experience a threat to our...
Self-Presentation: Self-Monitoring and Self-Handicapping02:05

Self-Presentation: Self-Monitoring and Self-Handicapping

People can go to great lengths to protect their self-image and present themselves in ways that they want others to see them. Sociologist Erving Goffman presented the idea that a person is like an actor on a stage. Calling his theory dramaturgy, Goffman believed that we use “impression management” to present ourselves to others as we hope to be perceived. Each situation is a new scene, and individuals perform different roles depending on who is present (Goffman, 1959). Think about the way you...
The Sense of Self: Reflected Self-Appraisal and Social Comparison02:57

The Sense of Self: Reflected Self-Appraisal and Social Comparison

According to Charles Cooley, we base our image on what we think other people see (Cooley 1902). We imagine how we must appear to others, then react to this speculation. We don certain clothes, prepare our hair in a particular manner, wear makeup, use cologne, and the like—all with the notion that our presentation of ourselves is going to affect how others perceive us. We expect a certain reaction, and, if lucky, we get the one we desire and feel good about it. But more than that, Cooley...
Beck's Cognitive Therapy01:25

Beck's Cognitive Therapy

Cognitive therapy is a psychological approach designed to address distortions in thinking, which can lead to negative emotions and unrealistic beliefs. These cognitive distortions often influence how individuals interpret and respond to situations, exacerbating emotional distress. Below are some prevalent cognitive distortions, their characteristics, and examples of how they manifest in thought processes.
Arbitrary Inference
Arbitrary inference involves making conclusions without sufficient...
Hindsight Biases01:12

Hindsight Biases

Hindsight bias leads you to believe that the event you just experienced was predictable, even though it really wasn’t. In other words, you knew all along that things would turn out the way they did. Can you relate this to the phrase "Hindsight is 20/20" now?

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Evaluating the evidence for repressed memory recovery in psychedelic contexts.

Psychopharmacology·2026
Same author

Reducing Rape Myth Acceptance Through Educational Debunking.

Journal of interpersonal violence·2026
Same author

Cannabis intoxication does not impair eyewitness recall with the Sketch Cognitive Interview but increases confidence in lineup errors.

Scientific reports·2026
Same author

The Boredom-ADHD Nexus: A Narrative and Meta-Analytic Review of the Evidence.

Clinical child and family psychology review·2026
Same author

A meta-analysis of false memory in healthy and pathological cognitive aging.

Psychology and aging·2026
Same author

Questioning the recovery of dissociated traumatic memories under psilocybin: comment on "Therapeutic emergence of dissociated traumatic memories during psilocybin treatment for anorexia nervosa".

Journal of eating disorders·2025

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 22, 2026

The Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) Task: A Simple Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate False Memories in the Laboratory
07:26

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

Published on: January 31, 2017

Credible suggestions affect false autobiographical beliefs.

Alan Scoboria1, Lauren Wysman, Henry Otgaar

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, Canada. scoboria@uwindsor.ca

Memory (Hove, England)
|April 28, 2012
PubMed
Summary

Attributing suggested false memories to a credible source, like parents, increases belief in these memories. Providing specific details about the source significantly enhances false memory implantation.

More Related Videos

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Emotional Autobiographical Recollection
11:30

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Emotional Autobiographical Recollection

Published on: August 26, 2011

Using a Classroom-Based Deese Roediger McDermott Paradigm to Assess the Effects of Imagery on False Memories
08:53

Using a Classroom-Based Deese Roediger McDermott Paradigm to Assess the Effects of Imagery on False Memories

Published on: November 14, 2018

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 22, 2026

The Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) Task: A Simple Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate False Memories in the Laboratory
07:26

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

Published on: January 31, 2017

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Emotional Autobiographical Recollection
11:30

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Emotional Autobiographical Recollection

Published on: August 26, 2011

Using a Classroom-Based Deese Roediger McDermott Paradigm to Assess the Effects of Imagery on False Memories
08:53

Using a Classroom-Based Deese Roediger McDermott Paradigm to Assess the Effects of Imagery on False Memories

Published on: November 14, 2018

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Memory Studies
  • Forensic Psychology

Background:

  • False memory implantation studies explore how suggestions can lead individuals to believe unremembered events occurred.
  • Key elements include suggestive information, attribution to a knowledgeable source (e.g., parents), and inclusion of true events to bolster source credibility.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how varying the proportion of events attributed to parents and the presence of true events influences false memory formation.
  • To examine the role of source credibility in the effectiveness of false memory implantation techniques.

Main Methods:

  • Two studies employed a variant of false memory implantation methods.
  • Study 1: Participants received six false events, with suggestions attributed entirely or partially to parents.
  • Study 2: Participants received false events, with varying degrees of parental attribution and the inclusion of two true events.

Main Results:

  • Participants told all events originated from parents showed increased formation and strength of false beliefs.
  • In Study 2, participants receiving a specific "half" attribution endorsed more false beliefs, with other groups showing no significant difference.
  • Across both studies, attributions to parents strengthened memory phenomenology (subjective experience of memory).

Conclusions:

  • The credibility of suggested events, particularly information about the source, significantly impacts the success of false memory implantation.
  • Source attribution plays a crucial role in the development and strength of false beliefs.