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Ad hoc categories and false memories: Memory illusions for categories created on-the-spot
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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Three experiments were designed to test whether experimentally created ad hoc associative networks
evoke false memories. We used the DRM (Deese, Roediger, McDermott) paradigm with lists of ad hoc
categories composed of exemplars aggregated toward specific goals (e.g., going for a picnic) that do not
share any consistent set of features. Experiment 1 revealed considerable levels of false recognitions of
critical words from ad hoc categories. False recognitions occurred even when the lists were presented
without an organizing theme (i.e., the category’s label). Experiments 1 and 2 tested whether (a) the ease
of identifying the categories’ themes, and (b) the lists’ backward associative strength could be driving the
effect. List identifiability did not correlate with false recognition, and the effect remained even when
backward associative strength was controlled for. Experiment 3 manipulated the distractor items in the
recognition task to address the hypothesis that the salience of unrelated items could be facilitating the
occurrence of the phenomenon. The effect remained when controlling for this source of facilitation.
These results have implications for assumptions made by theories of false memories, namely the
preexistence of associations in the activation-monitoring framework and the central role of gist extraction
in fuzzy-trace theory, while providing evidence of the occurrence of false memories for more dynamic
and context-dependent knowledge structures.
Description
Keywords
Analysis of variance Concept formation Female Humans Male Models psychological Psychological tests Young adult Association Illusions Memory
Pedagogical Context
Citation
Soro, J. C., Ferreira, M. B., Semin, G. R., Mata, A., & Carneiro, P. (2017). Ad hoc categories and false memories: Memory illusions for categories created on-the-spot. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 43(11), 1779-1792. https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0000401