False memories (FM´s) occur when we remember the events that never happened in reality, situations at which we were not present, and places where we never been to or when we remember some event differently from what really happened. The main purpose of this work was to check the durability of individual s memory after a time span of one week and to check the influence of the source monitoring on the creation of FM´s. For this, it was used the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm, which consists of the presentation of twelve lists of fifteen associated words (targets) to an undisclosed one which is called the critical distractor or critical nonpresented word. The individuals were picked among 80 UFU Psychology undergraduates who volunteer to participate. They were divided in two groups: auditory and visual ones. This separation was due to the difference in the modality of lists presentation at study. All participants were asked to pay attention to the words and half of them were asked to do the source monitoring of the words, whether it is auditory or visually form. Following the presentation of the twelve lists, they solved simple arithmetic problems. At last, it was done an immediate recognition memory test which has seventy words: thirty six studied itens (targets), twelve related lures (critical distractors) and twenty two unrelated lures (new words which were not semantically associated to any of the ten lists previously presented to them). One week later, they came back to do the delayed recognition memory test. The test and the procedure were the same as for the immediate recognition memory test. In these recognition tests they had to choose between Yes or No for each word, whether they did or did not recognize the words from one of the lists and they were asked to identify the word s source: Auditory or Visually form. The results showed that false memories are created and can be kept until one week later, more than real memories. Visual modality was better to the correct recognition (targets) and further more, it was responsible for the smaller rate of false recognition. Instructions to the individuals improved the source monitoring for targets, but it did not cut down on the misattribution for the critical distractor. / Falsas memórias (FM´s) podem ser definidas como o fato de nos lembrarmos de eventos que não ocorreram na realidade, de situações as quais nunca presenciamos, de lugares onde nunca estivemos, ou então, de nos lembrarmos de algum evento de maneira um pouco distorcida do que realmente aconteceu. O objetivo geral deste trabalho foi verificar a durabilidade da memória dos sujeitos ao longo de uma semana, bem como verificar a influência do monitoramento da fonte na criação de falsas memórias. Para tanto, neste estudo foi usado o procedimento de Deese/ Roediger/ McDermott (DRM) que consiste de listas de palavras associadas. O instrumento utilizado foi composto de doze listas de quinze palavras associadas (alvos) a um tema central que recebe o nome de distrator crítico e não aparece na lista. Os participantes da pesquisa foram 80 universitários do curso de Psicologia da UFU que aceitaram voluntariamente participar do estudo. Eles foram divididos em dois grupos: auditivo e visual. Esta separação foi devida a diferença da modalidade de apresentação das palavras no estudo. Foi pedido a todos que prestassem atenção às palavras e para a metade da amostra de cada grupo, foi informado que deveriam fazer o monitoramento da fonte das palavras, via auditiva ou visual. Após a apresentação das doze listas, eles fizeram uma tarefa de distração com problemas simples de matemática. Ao final, foi feito um teste de reconhecimento imediato contendo setenta palavras, sendo: trinta e seis alvos, os doze distratores críticos e vinte e duas palavras acrescentadas e que não eram semanticamente relacionadas a nenhuma das listas. Após uma semana, fizeram um teste de reconhecimento posterior, no qual receberam a mesma folha do teste de reconhecimento imediato e procederam da mesma forma. Nos testes de reconhecimento, eles tinham que assinalar a opção (Sim ou Não) em cada palavra, conforme reconhecessem ou não a palavra de alguma das listas e identificar a fonte na qual a palavra foi apresentada: auditiva ou visual. Os resultados mostraram que as falsas memórias são criadas e podem ser mantidas, após uma semana, mais do que as memórias reais. A modalidade visual foi melhor para o reconhecimento verdadeiro e foi a responsável pela menor taxa de reconhecimento falso. A instrução aos participantes melhorou o monitoramento da fonte para os alvos, mas não fez com que o índice de atribuição de fontes para os distratores críticos diminuísse. / Mestre em Psicologia Aplicada

Most eyewitness identification protocols recommend withholding feedback after an identification has been made, at least until a measure of confidence can be gathered. Although much research has examined the impact of post-identification feedback on subsequent witness behavior and confidence, research addressing the importance of post-recall feedback remains largely incomplete. The current study examined the effects of post-recall feedback and question type on subsequent witness recall, confidence, and reports of view of the crime. In line with previous eyewitness identification research, it was predicted that participants receiving confirming post-recall feedback would be more confident in their prior recall compared to participants receiving neutral, no, or disconfirming feedback. One hundred and fifty-eight participants viewed a mock crime video of a robbery followed by an interview which included both open-ended and cued questions. Participants were then given either confirming, neutral, no, or disconfirming feedback and asked about their confidence and the clarity of their view of the perpetrator. Under the pretense that the recording equipment failed, participants were interviewed again using the same question format. The second interview was followed by a series of suggestive questions. After the second interview, participants were again asked about their confidence and self-reported quality of view of the perpetrator. Participant interviews were transcribed and scored for quantity, accuracy, and consistency by two blind, independent coders. Analyses revealed that feedback had a systematic impact on confidence such that participants who received confirming feedback were more confident in the overall accuracy of their prior memory accounts than those who received neutral, no, or disconfirming feedback and participants who received neutral or no feedback were more confident in the overall accuracy of their prior memory accounts compared to those in the disconfirming feedback condition. In line with previous eyewitness identification research, there was no significant relationship between recall accuracy and reported confidence. Results from the current study can be used to inform real-world investigative interviewers by highlighting the consequences of offering post-recall feedback. Specifically, feedback can impact witness confidence irrespective of actual recall accuracy.

L’objectif de ce travail de thèse était d’évaluer l’état des processus de récupération en mémoire dans la maladie d’Alzheimer afin de développer des programmes de prise en charge cognitive novateurs. Les deux premières études ont porté sur la caractérisation de ces processus à travers l’évaluation des performances de patients avec une maladie d’Alzheimer à des tâches de reconnaissance mnésique. Les deux études suivantes se sont intéressées au développement de programmes d’intervention cognitive ayant pour objectif de réduire les troubles cognitifs et leur retentissement, l’un en améliorant les processus cognitifs altérés à partir d’un entraînement cognitif appliquant la répétition-lag procédure et l’autre, en sollicitant les processus cognitifs préservés à partir d’un apprentissage par des techniques de réhabilitation cognitive, à recourir à l’utilisation d’aides externes. Les résultats ont mis en évidence une détérioration sélective des processus de reconnaissance chez les patients à un stade léger de la maladie ; la recollection serait particulièrement altérée alors que la familiarité resterait préservée. De plus, le déficit des capacités de reconnaissance de la source serait lié à l’altération des processus stratégiques de reconnaissance de la source, les processus associatifs resteraient préservés. Ensuite, le programme d’entraînement cognitif expérimental s’est révélé efficace, des gains cognitifs ont été objectivés à des tâches cognitives de transfert. De même, le programme de réhabilitation cognitive par le biais d’un apprentissage combinant les techniques de la récupération espacée et de l’apprentissage sans erreur a permis de réduire l’impact des troubles cognitifs dans la vie quotidienne / The main objective of this thesis was to evaluate retrieval memory processes in Alzheimer’s disease in order to develop innovative cognitive interventions. The first two studies focused on the characterization of these processes through performance evaluation of patients with Alzheimer’s disease in recognition memory tasks. The next two studies became interested in development of cognitive intervention programs aimed at reducing cognitive impairment and their impact. One tries to improve impaired cognitive processes from a cognitive training using the repetition-lag procedure and the other one uses different cognitive rehabilitation techniques that involve preserved cognitive processes to learn to resort to the use of external aids. The results showed a selective deficit in recognition processes in patients with a mild stage of Alzheimer’s disease, recollection would be particularly affected as familiarity remains preserved. In addition, source recognition deficit could be explained by a specific alteration of source recognition strategic processes whereas associative processes should remain preserved. Secondly, the experimental cognitive training program was effective, cognitive gains were objectified in transfer tasks. Similarly, the cognitive rehabilitation program using spaced retrieval technique and errorless learning has reduced the impact of cognitive impairment in everyday life