Brief Report: False Memory Formation in Autism: The Role of Relational Processing at Study

Several studies have investigated false memory production in autistic adults, yet it remains unclear whether susceptibility to false memories differs from non-autistic adults and what mechanisms might contribute to any differences. This study examines the mechanisms behind false memory formation in autistic adults using the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm.

Participants studied DRM word lists designed to activate a critical word (the 'critical lure). To examine false memory formation and associative processing, participants completed three tasks: a standard recognition test to measure false memory rates, a word stem completion task to assess implicit priming of the critical lure, and a free association task to evaluate explicit associative processing.

Autistic individuals showed comparable rates of false memories as non-autistic adults (i.e., falsely reporting having studied the critical lure), were as likely to mention the critical lure on the free association task but showed no tendency to complete word stems with the critical lure when implicitly primed to do so.

These findings suggest that autistic adults may rely less on spontaneous spreading of semantic activation during encoding but are capable of engaging in explicit associative processing when directed. The results provide valuable insights into the mechanisms underlying false memory formation in autism.