Chan, J.C.K., McDermott, K.B., Watson, J.M., & Gallo, D.A. (2005). The importance of material-processing interactions in inducing false memories. Memory & Cognition, 33, 389-395.
Some researchers have found that deep processing increases false memories in the DRM paradigm. However, the studies that have examined this issue have used lists of semantically related words (e.g., bed, rest, nap, snooze). The question addressed in the present article is whether that same effect would occur when using lists of phonologically related words (e.g., slip, weep, slop, keep, etc.) Arguably, for lists of phonological associates, the false memory effect will be magnified by phonological orienting tasks. Chan and colleagues set out to test this prediction.
Experiment 1
Participants were presented with 24 lists of phonologically related words. Each list contained 16 words that sounded similar to a critical non-presented word. Words were presented one at a time on a computer screen for a total of 800 msec with a 500 msec ISI. Following each list, participants had one minute to recall as many words as they could. For half of the lists, participants were told to concentrate on the semantic relationships between the words. For the other half of the lists, participants were told to concentrate on the phonological relationships between the words.
As predicted, the semantic orienting task reduced the incidence of false memories relative to the phonological orienting task. In fact, participants were about twice as likely to have a false memory following the phonological orienting task than during the semantic orienting task.
Experiment 2
In the second experiment, the authors added a manipulation of list type. Participants studied 24 lists. Half of the lists were made up of phonologically related words. Half of the lists were made up of semantically related words. Participants studied half of the lists of each type under semantic orienting instructions and half of the lists of each type under phonological orienting instructions. Participants completed an OLD/NEW recognition test after studying all of the lists.
For the semantic lists, semantic processing led to higher rates of both true recognition and false recognition. For phonological, phonological processing led to higher rates of both true recognition and false recognition. Thus as predicted, which orienting task produced the most false memories depended crucially on the types of relationships inherent in the lists.
Discussion
The results are discussed in terms of the activation monitoring framework of false memories. According to this theory, when words are studied activation spreads to related words. The spread of activation can depend on what aspects of the word are being attended to. Thus attending to meaning will cause activation to spread to semantic associates and attending to sound will cause activation to spread to phonological associates. The authors argue that the effect could happen either through augmention or inhibition.
Important Legal
Disclaimer: The preceding are articles we read together in the Lampinen Lab Spring 2006 false memory reading group. By
clicking on the button next to the article you can see the summary of that
article. The summary was prepared by the student presenting that article and it
is of course the case that the views expressed in the summary do not
necessarily represent the views of the reading group as a whole, Dr. Lampinen, the Lampinen Lab,
Hugo's, the University of Arkansas, the Razorback Football or Basketball teams
(although we're not sure about cross country), people living down the street
from us, Bob Dylan, Jack Fate, our extended families, or anyone else for that
matter except for the student who wrote the summary (and they don't necessarily
believe what they wrote either).