The interaction between frontal functioning and encoding processes in reducing false memories

ABSTRACT

Studies suggest that age differences in false memories may be related to deficits in frontal lobe functioning (FLF; Butler, McDaniel, Dornburg, Price, & Roediger, 2004, Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 11, 921). In addition, research has demonstrated that item-specific encoding can reduce false memories in younger adults (Arndt & Reder, 2003, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 28, 830). In the present study we examined whether younger and older adults who perform poorly on tests designed to assess frontal function would be less likely to benefit from item-specific encoding in a false memory paradigm. In three experiments, participants studied categorized word or picture lists. Encoding manipulations were designed to emphasize either item-specific or relational processing. Younger adults and high FLF older adults showed a reduction in false memories when item-specific processing was implemented. However, low FLF older adults showed a reduction in false memories only when relational processing was impoverished. Results suggest that frontal function directly influences the engagement in distinctive encoding processes.

Keywords:

• Frontal functioning
• Encoding processes
• False memories

Acknowledgments

Aspects of this research were supported by a Faculty Research Award from Tufts University. The authors would like to thank Gina Sultan and Reed Johnson for their help with data collection and analysis.

Notes

¹The present study did not assess frontal functioning in younger adults. To our knowledge, only one study has examined the relationship between frontal lobe functioning and false memories in young adults using the battery of tests employed in this study (Chan & McDermott, 2007). Chan and McDermott did find that higher frontal functioning in young adults was associated with lower levels of false recall. This finding suggests that like older adults, younger adults’ susceptibility to false memories may be driven by level of frontal functioning. As it relates to the present study, these findings suggest that frontal functioning in young adults may play a role in the successful engagement of item-specific processing to reduce false memory susceptibility. Attempts were made to assess frontal functioning in young adults in order to examine this question; however, these attempts were thwarted. The challenge of finding young adults who qualified as low FL and good to high ML functioning was too great.

²Both high and low FLF produce lower hit rates in Experiment 1. This pattern is similar to one observed by Thomas and Sommers (2005). Rather than an encoding deficit, Thomas and Sommers (2005) attributed this difference to deficits in working memory. The task was such that participants had to read a sentence and remember the last word of the sentence. This task is similar to the working memory task developed by Daneman and Carpenter (1980).