False recall in the Deese–Roediger–McDermott paradigm: The roles of gist and associative strength

Abstract

Theories of false memories, particularly in the Deese–Roediger–McDermott (DRM) paradigm, focus on word association strength and gist. Backward associative strength (BAS) is a strong predictor of false recall in this paradigm. However, other than being defined as a measure of association between studied list words and falsely recalled nonpresented critical words, there is little understanding of this variable. In Experiment 1, we used a knowledge-type taxonomy to classify the semantic relations in DRM stimuli. These knowledge types predicted false-recall probability, as well as BAS itself, with the most important being situation features, synonyms, and taxonomic relations. In three subsequent experiments, we demonstrated that lists composed solely of situation features can elicit a gist and produce false memories, particularly when monitoring processes are made more difficult. Our results identify the semantic factors that underlie BAS and suggest how considering semantic relations leads to a better understanding of gist formation.

Keywords:

• False memories
• Gist
• Situation knowledge
• Fuzzy-trace theory
• Activation/monitoring theory

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a SSHRC (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council) Graduate Research Fellowship to David R. Cann while a graduate student at The University of Western Ontario, by Natural Sciences and Engineering Council Grant 06P007040 to Albert N. Katz, and by Natural Sciences and Engineering Council Grant OGP0155704 and National Institutes of Health Grant HD053136 to Ken McRae. We thank Charles Brainerd, Diane Pecher, and an anonymous reviewer for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this article.