The role of mental imagery in the creation of false childhood memories

Author(s): Pentland, J.

Journal/Book: J Mem Lang. 1996; 35: 525B Street, Suite 1900, San Diego, CA 92101-4495. Academic Press Inc Jnl-Comp Subscriptions. 101-117.

Abstract: We investigated whether guided imagery instructions would increase the likelihood of false memory creation and of remembering previously unremembered true events. In three interviews, participants repeatedly were asked to remember several true events (based on parent reports) and one false event (created by the experimenters). In a guided imagery condition, if participants could not recall an event (either a true of a false event) they were asked to form a mental image of the event and describe the image to the interviewer. In a control condition, if participants could not recall an event they were asked to quietly think about the event for 1 min. Participants in the imagery condition were more likely to create a false event and recover memories of previously unavailable true events (although it was unclear whether the recovered memories were truly recalled or created in response to the interview demands). We argue that the creation of false childhood memories involves both memory reconstruction and errors in source monitoring. (%O Article IE Hyman, Western Washington Univ, Dept Psychol, Bellingham, WA 98225 USA

Keyword(s): HYPNOSIS; HYPNOTIZABILITY; SUSCEPTIBILITY; INFORMATION; EXPERIENCES; EVENTS; SCALE

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