Table Of Contentassociative illusions
of memory
ESSAYS IN COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
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illusions
associative
illusions of memory
false memory research in DRM and related tasks
DAVID A. GALLO
University of Chicago
iilllluussiioonnss
\}' ~~I~~~~!i?G9Xp ChicagPo ress
Chicago
Chicago
NEW YORK AND HOVE
Publishedi n 2006 by Publishedi n Great Britain by
PsychologyP ress PsychologyP ress
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Library of CongressC ataloging-in-PublicationD ata
Gallo, David A.
Associativei llusions of memory: false memory researchi n DRM and relatedt asks/
David A. Gallo.
p. ; cm. - (Essaysi n cognitive psychology)
Includesb ibliographicalr eferencesa nd index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-84169-414-6(h ardback:a lk. paper)
ISBN-IO: 1-84169-414-2( hardback:a lk. paper) l. Recoveredm emory. 2. Falsem emory syndrome.
I. Title. II. Series.
[DNLM: l. Memory-physiology.2 . Association.3 . Illusions. 4. PsychologicalT ests. 5. Repression.
WL 102 Gl76a 2006]
RC455.2.F35G352 006
616.89'1 4-dc22
2006016486
ISBNI3: 978-1-84169-414-6(h bk)
ISBNIO: 1-84169-414-2( hbk)
To Dad and Mom. .. the truth is out there
CONTENTS
Preface xi
PART I Background 1
Chapter 1 Associations and Errors through History 3
Early Associationism 5
The Verbal LearningT radition 8
The Cognitive Revolution 12
ModernA ssociationism 13
Chapter2 Converging Association Tasks 19
The DRM Task: Basic Method and Results 23
EncodingM ultiple Associates 33
OtherC onvergenceT asks 35
PART II Basic Theories and Data 37
Chapter3 Processes that Cause False Memory 39
Decision-BasedT heories 41
Subjectivity, Priming, and Warnings 44
The "Three Big" Theories 50
Evidencef or the Three Big Theories 57
Summarya nd Conclusion 69
Chapter4 Illusory Recollection 75
"Remember"/" Know" Judgments 76
SourceJ udgments 82
Memory CharacteristicsQ uestionnaire 87
The Conjoint RecognitionT echnique 89
Theorieso f Illusory Recollection 91
FactorsA ffecting Illusory Recollection 94
vii
viii Contents
Chapter5 Processes that Reduce False Memory 97
Disqualifying Monitoring 100
DiagnosticM onitoring 104
Study FormatM anipulations 108
Lure Characteristics 118
Other RelevantM anipulations 120
Other Monitoring Issues 125
Chapter 6 Additional Study and Test Manipulations 131
Study Factors 132
Test Factors 144
Multiple Tests 148
Social Retrieval 153
Part III Applications and Data lS7
Chapter7 Individual Differences and Generalizability 1S9
Within-Task Stability 160
Cross-TaskS tability 161
Cognitive Differences 162
PersonalityD ifferences 163
Group Differences 166
Group X Material Interactions 173
Chapter8 Development and Aging 177
Developmenta nd the DRM Task 177
Developmenta nd Monitoring Manipulations 181
Aging and the DRM Task 184
Aging and Monitoring Manipulations 190
Aging and Other Tasks 198
Individual Aging Differences 201
Chapter9 Neuropsychology and Drugs 203
Medial TemporalA mnesia 205
Frontal Lesions 209
Alzheimer'sD isease 212
SemanticD ementia 219
Schizophrenia 220
Asperger'sS yndrome 221
Alcoholics 222
Drug-InducedA mnesia 222
Chapter 1 0 Neuroimaging and Localization 227
ERP Findings 228
PET and fMRI Findings 235
Contents ix
Brain HemisphereE ffects 242
Conclusionsa nd Caveats 243
Chapter 11 Summary and Conclusions 245
GeneralR eview 246
FutureD irections 249
BroaderI mplications 251
References 253
Author Index 275
Subject Index 285
Preface
The ability to remembert he seeminglyi nfinite episodeso f our lives is a
miracle of the humanm ind. But memory is not always accurate,a nd we
sometimest hink that an event that never happeneda ctually did. Such
false memoriesc an be benign, as when we entertaine acho ther (and our
own egos)w ith exaggeratedp ersonals toriest hat are eventuallyb elieved
to be truthful. Other times they can haveg ravei mplications, as when an
eyewitnessfa lsely recognizesa n innocentp ersona s a murderer.
Over the pastd ecadeo r so thereh asb eena boomi n the scientific study
of certaint ypeso f false memories.T hesea re false memorieso f eventst hat
did not occur but are related,v ia associationsa nd/o r similarity, to events
that did occur. Hundredso f researchersh avec ontributedt o thesee xperi-
ments,u singa variety of tools from cognitivep sychology,n europsychology,
neurosciencea, nd personality/socialp sychology. This essayp rovides a
detailedr eview of this researche nterprise,w ith implications for contem-
porary theorieso f memory,c onsciousnessa,n d cognition.
Researcho n associativem emory errors has a long and varied history
(discussedin Chapter1 ), but most of the recentr esearchin volves a family
of tasks that are all quite similar: Subjectss tudy lists of related stimuli,
such as associatedw ords or perceptuallys imilar pictures, and are then
given recall or recognition tests. As discussedi n Chapter2 , theset asks
elicit false memorieso f nonstudieds timuli, memoriest hat often are sub-
jectively compelling and hard to avoid. This collection of tasks therefore
hasb eena dopteda s the paradigmaticd emonstrationo f laboratory-based
false memories.C hapters3 -6 provide a review of the behavioralf indings
from those experimentsu sing youngera dults (usually college students)
as subjects,a s well as the major theoreticald evelopmentsT. he contento f
these chaptersi s technical, with meticulous attention to basic research
xi
