Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Heidelberg, 1914. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 5-8).

Thesis , Rostock.

Thesis--Rostock.

False recollection refers to the retrieval of contextual information associated with an event that has not occurred. For instance, during a recognition task, one might identify a nonstudied word presented at test as old because she remembers the font color of the word during study. Although instances such as this are rare and typically occur at a varying rate of 0-5%, current models of recognition such as the Complementary Learning Systems (CLS) model and the Dual-Process Signal-Detection (DPSD) model do not contain a mechanism to account for their occurrence. Although both the CLS and DPSD models have support from studies demonstrating functional dissociations, neurophysiological dissociations, and behavioral findings of process dissociation, their ability to explain false memories has been more elusive; neither theory specifically addresses false recollection. Instead, such models have ignored false recollection as inconsequential noise in the data. The purpose of this dissertation was to determine whether the false recognition effect obtained by the Payne-Eakin paradigm was due to false recollection or familiarity. The Payne-Eakin paradigm is based on the PIER2 model, which theorizes that targets implicitly activated during study lead to the falser recognition of a false-target pair. Using a modified version of the Payne-Eakin paradigm, we investigated the nature of the false recognition effect using a priori behavioral analyses and statistical modeling. The findings of this dissertation provide a step toward a more solid understanding of the cognitive mechanisms involved in the recognition of nonstudied items. This dissertation demonstrates that modeling false recollection is possible. The results of this dissertation suggest that, because current models of recognition do not provide a mechanism to account for false recollection, our understanding of recognition is not fully understood. The results highlight that the current understanding of how false recollection contributes to recognition performance is an area in need of further development.

Furthering our understanding of children's memory mechanisms will expand our knowledge of ways to reduce false memory errors. Hege and Dodson (2004) found that adult participants who studied pictures later recalled items more accurately than participants who studied words. This demonstrated that encoding information in a distinctive manner can reduce false memories. The main aim of the present study was to explore whether using distinctive information within the Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm can reduce false memories in children (Deese, 1959; Roediger & McDermott, 1995). Two hundred and forty-three eleven year-old children (mean age 11.5) studied pictures and words on a screen, each with an accompanying aural label. In contrast to the findings of Hege and Dodson, studying pictures did not reduce false memories in these participants. There were no significant encoding differences between children who studied pictures and children who studied words, as measured by the rate of falsely recalled non-presented critical lure words. Moreover, the children's average rate of recall of the false memories was very low (19.6%). This is just over half the rate reported by Hege and Dodson with adult subjects. On the other hand, manipulation of the test instructions at retrieval had a significant effect on the rate of recall of critical lures. Each group of participants received different retrieval instructions. As expected, the highest numbers of recalled critical lures occurred when subjects were asked to report studied items as well as related items (inclusion recall instructions). This study demonstrated the complex role of encoding and retrieval mechanisms in older children's memory processes, and showed that children do not appear to reduce false memories in a manner that is consistent with adults. The results are discussed in terms of children's processing of pictures and words, eleven-year-olds' semantic development, and links to fuzzy-trace theory.

Furthering our understanding of children's memory mechanisms will expand our knowledge of ways to reduce false memory errors. Hege and Dodson (2004) found that adult participants who studied pictures later recalled items more accurately than participants who studied words. This demonstrated that encoding information in a distinctive manner can reduce false memories. The main aim of the present study was to explore whether using distinctive information within the Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm can reduce false memories in children (Deese, 1959; Roediger & McDermott, 1995). Two hundred and forty-three eleven year-old children (mean age 11.5) studied pictures and words on a screen, each with an accompanying aural label. In contrast to the findings of Hege and Dodson, studying pictures did not reduce false memories in these participants. There were no significant encoding differences between children who studied pictures and children who studied words, as measured by the rate of falsely recalled non-presented critical lure words. Moreover, the children's average rate of recall of the false memories was very low (19.6%). This is just over half the rate reported by Hege and Dodson with adult subjects. On the other hand, manipulation of the test instructions at retrieval had a significant effect on the rate of recall of critical lures. Each group of participants received different retrieval instructions. As expected, the highest numbers of recalled critical lures occurred when subjects were asked to report studied items as well as related items (inclusion recall instructions). This study demonstrated the complex role of encoding and retrieval mechanisms in older children's memory processes, and showed that children do not appear to reduce false memories in a manner that is consistent with adults. The results are discussed in terms of children's processing of pictures and words, eleven-year-olds' semantic development, and links to fuzzy-trace theory.

This thesis explores the role of gist memory and gist representation in the formation of false recognition, specifically in the Deese, Roediger and McDermott Paradigm. We found that normal individuals displayed a range of susceptibility to false recognition and true recognition and this was related to their scores on both the Autism Spectrum Quotient and the Toronto-Alexithymia Scale. More ‘male-brained’ participants exhibited less susceptibility to false recognition but also less veridical recognition. The reverse was true for more ‘female-brained’ participants. The idea of false recognition and gist memory lying along a continuum was further emphasised by work on individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. We found they were less susceptible to false recognition but also produced less veridical recognition. We also found differences in performance between two groups of autism individuals who also differed in age. The results of further manipulations using both picture and word paradigms suggested that gist memory could be improved in younger individuals with autism. We also examined a patient group with Functional Memory Disorder using the DRM paradigm and a confabulation task and found them less able to produce true recognition in the DRM compared with a control group. Their memory impairments could not be attributed to depression since none were clinically depressed, so we suggested that they represent the tale end of impairment to gist memory. We also explored gist memory in a patient with dense anterograde amnesia who showed reduced true recognition and a tendency to reduced false recognition, but through manipulation of the stimuli using word and pictorial material she could perform like controls due to improved item-specific discrimination. A new face recognition paradigm was also tested in which she showed a tendency towards increased false recognition in comparison with controls. Finally, we suggest the use of the DRM paradigm as a test for memory malingering since we found participants could not replicate the performance of amnesia patients without a cost in their response latencies. This is discussed through the case study of GC a man suspected of exaggerating his memory symptoms.

Thesis (M.Sc.(Zoology and Entomology))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / The thesis is structured as three separate papers to be submitted to journals for publication, with a single reference list at the end. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 130-147).

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