Underestimation of prior remembering and susceptibility to false memories: Two sides of the same coin?

Linsey Raymaekers, Maarten J. V. Peters, Tom Smeets, Latifa Abidi, Harald Merckelbach

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In two studies, we explored whether susceptibility to false memories and the underestimation of prior memories (i.e., forgot-it-all-along effect) tap overlapping memory phenomena. Study 1 investigated this issue by administering the Deese/Roediger-McDermott task (DRM) and the forgot-it-all-along (FIA) task to an undergraduate sample (N=110). It was furthermore explored how performances on these tasks correlate with clinically relevant traits such as fantasy proneness, dissociative experiences, and cognitive efficiency. Results show that FIA and DRM performances are relatively independent from each other, suggesting that these measures empirically apparently refer to separate dimensions. However, they do not seem to define different profiles in terms of dissociation, fantasy proneness, and cognitive efficiency. Study 2 replicated the finding of relative independence between false memory propensity (as measured with the DRM task) and the underestimation of prior memories (as measured with an autobiographical memory dating task) in people with a history of childhood sexual abuse (N=35).
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1144-1153
JournalConsciousness and Cognition
Volume20
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2011
Externally publishedYes

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Underestimation of prior remembering and susceptibility to false memories: Two sides of the same coin?'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this