Retrieval-Induced Forgetting in the Feigning Amnesia for a Crime Paradigm.

Ivan Mangiulli,Kim Van Oorsouw,Marko Jelicic,Antonietta Curci

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00928

Ivan Mangiulli, Kim Van Oorsouw + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00928

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Abstract

Previous studies demonstrated that, when asked to honestly provide information about a mock crime, former feigners performed worse than those who were requested to confess to this event. Thus, feigning amnesia for a mock crime undermined genuine memory for the same experience. In the present study, we examined whether retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) underlies this memory-undermining effect. After watching a mock crime, participants had to feign amnesia or confess to having committed that crime. Feigners were given retrieval practice instructions (i.e., retrieval-practice group) or no further instructions (i.e., control group). Immediately and 1 day later, all participants had to genuinely report what they remembered about the crime. Although simulators in the retrieval-practice group recalled the largest amount of information as a positive consequence of retrieval, the ratio for crucial crime-related details was lower than that exhibited by both simulators who were given no instructions and confessors. These findings suggest that RIF might play a role in forgetting critical information in claims of crime-related amnesia. Theoretical and practical implications will be discussed.

Highlights

Many offenders feign amnesia for serious crimes (Cima et al, 2002; Christianson and Merckelbach, 2004; Pyszora et al, 2014; Jelicic and Merckelbach, 2015; Jelicic, 2018)
By requesting simulating participants to adopt a narrowed strategy similar to the classical retrievalinduced forgetting (RIF) procedure (e.g., Anderson et al, 1994), we aimed to investigate whether offenders’ memory impairments after feigned crime-related amnesia claims might be due to RIF
The main effects of the pre-post mock crime viewing for both Positive Affect (PA)-S and Negative Affect (NA)-S scores, F(1,117) = 67.24, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.36, and F(1,117) = 116.61, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.49, revealed that the mock crime event had an affective impact on participants by increasing their negative and reducing their positive mood state

Summary

Introduction

Many offenders feign amnesia for serious crimes (Cima et al, 2002; Christianson and Merckelbach, 2004; Pyszora et al, 2014; Jelicic and Merckelbach, 2015; Jelicic, 2018). The memory-undermining effect of feigned amnesia has been observed in several studies (e.g., Christianson and Bylin, 1999; Bylin and Christianson, 2002; Van Oorsouw and Merckelbach, 2004, 2006; Mangiulli et al, 2018b; Romeo et al, 2018; Mangiulli et al, in press) Compared with those who were instructed to confess to a mock crime, participants who were previously asked to feign amnesia for this event exhibit poorer memory performance when they are subsequently requested to give up their role as feigner. Bylin and Christianson (2002) used a small number of participants who decided themselves which crime-related information to omit and to retrieve, which might have obscured differences between conditions

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