Individual Differences in Susceptibility to False Memories for Neutral and Trauma-Related Words

Abstract

People with a known propensity towards false memories may be considered less credible eyewitnesses. It is therefore important to investigate individual factors related to susceptibility to false memory development. The Deese–Roediger–McDermott (DRM) procedure involves participants remembering lists of related words. The tendency to produce critical lures – words not originally presented, but strongly related to the studied words – is considered a measure of susceptibility to false memories. Participants completed the DRM using neutral and trauma-related words along with measures of dissociation, post-traumatic cognitions and the looming cognitive style. Analyses indicated that dissociation was related to false recall for traumatic stimuli; higher levels of post-traumatic cognitions were associated with a decrease in false recognition; and looming cognitive style was related to an increase in confabulations but a decrease in false recognition. The implications of this research are discussed.