The primary objective of the present thesis was to investigate factors that influence the creation of false memories using the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm. The experimental research addressed the effect of age, list length, and list content on the magnitude of the DRM illusion with a view to testing assumptions derived from activation-monitoring theory and Fuzzy Trace Theory. In the first experiment, I wanted to determine whether the DRM paradigm is appropriate for use with New Zealand English-speaking adults. In addition, Experiment 1 was designed to assess the effect of prior recall on recognition performance. To answer these questions, I assigned half of the participants to a recall-plus-recognition condition and the remaining participants to a recognition-only condition. Rates of false recall and recognition were comparable to those reported in the literature, which suggested that the task is suitable for use with New Zealand adults. Furthermore, prior recall enhanced correct recognition but it did not affect false recognition. In Experiment 2, I examined how manipulations of list-length affected children and adults' susceptibility to the DRM illusion. Ten-year-olds and adults studied eight lists of either 7 or 14 words. In the 14-word condition, adults falsely recalled more critical targets than children; however, in the 7-word condition, there was no age difference in false recall. In addition, adults falsely recognised a greater proportion of critical targets than children, however, this effect was not dependent on the length of the study list. In Experiments 3A and 3B, I examined whether presenting highly familiar study materials would enhance children's susceptibility to false memories. Ten-year-old children and adults studied four standard DRM lists, four new lists that centred on 'child-friendly' concepts, such as birthday and school (CF lists), and four lists derived from child word-association norms. In both experiments, there was no age difference in rates of false recall. In addition, presenting material that was deemed more developmentally appropriate did not enhance children's susceptibility to false memories relative to adults. In Experiment 4, I introduced a post-recall phase to examine why the DRM illusion is less likely to occur when short lists are presented and when the materials are child-friendly. During the post-recall phase, participants were asked to report any other words that they had thought of during the presentation or recall of the study lists. Thinking about the target word, but remembering that it had not been presented, could not account for decreased levels of false recall in the short-list condition. Similarly, with the CF lists, it appeared that the list items were less likely to activate the critical target for both children and adults. In the final three experiments, I explored the assumptions outlined in activation-monitoring theory and fuzzy-trace theory to determine which model provided the best account of the findings obtained to date. To explore the activation-monitoring account, children and adults completed word association tasks. To explore fuzzy-trace theory, children and adults were given a gist extraction task where they had to identify the critical targets associated with each list. Collectively, the results of the present thesis fit more comfortably within an activation-monitoring framework than they do within the fuzzy-trace framework. Although the precise mechanisms underlying the DRM illusion have yet to be elucidated, the present findings suggest that gist extraction, activation processes, and source monitoring each play a substantial role in mediating false memory levels.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/217425 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Sugrue, Katrina Joan, n/a |
| Publisher | University of Otago. Department of Psychology |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | http://policy01.otago.ac.nz/policies/FMPro?-db=policies.fm&-format=viewpolicy.html&-lay=viewpolicy&-sortfield=Title&Type=Academic&-recid=33025&-find), Copyright Katrina Joan Sugrue |
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