When distinctiveness fails, false memories prevail

The argument advanced in this article is that false memories can arise because of processes that normally affect forgetting, namely, the decline of distinctiveness and the rise of retroactive interference. Specifically, when the distinctiveness of a trace relative to the background of other traces diminishes, the potential for interference among like traces increases. To the extent that memories lose their distinctive properties, including the source of the memory, such memories may become confused with events that are supposed to be recalled as actually having occurred. This idea is elaborated in the context of studies of the effects of distinctiveness on reducing retroactive interference in children's long-term retention. It is concluded that advances in understanding false memories and the role distinctiveness might play in reducing such misrememberings is contingent on the development of additional formal modeling approaches like the one presented in the lead paper by Brainerd and Reyna (1998, this issue).