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BRIEF REPORT

Mood-congruent false memories persist over time

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Pages 903-912 | Received 31 May 2013, Accepted 23 Oct 2013, Published online: 03 Dec 2013
 

Abstract

In this study, we examined the role of mood-congruency and retention interval on the false recognition of emotion laden items using the Deese/Roediger–McDermott (DRM) paradigm. Previous research has shown a mood-congruent false memory enhancement during immediate recognition tasks. The present study examined the persistence of this effect following a one-week delay. Participants were placed in a negative or neutral mood, presented with negative-emotion and neutral-emotion DRM word lists, and administered with both immediate and delayed recognition tests. Results showed that a negative mood state increased remember judgments for negative-emotion critical lures, in comparison to neutral-emotion critical lures, on both immediate and delayed testing. These findings are discussed in relation to theories of spreading activation and emotion-enhanced memory, with consideration of the applied forensic implications of such findings.

The author would like to thank Dr Alexander J. Shackman and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments when reviewing the article.

The author would like to thank Dr Alexander J. Shackman and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments when reviewing the article.

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