The Contributions of Source Misattributions, Acquiescence, and Response Bias to Children's False Memories

Abstract

Two studies examined the nature of the false recollections that preschool children experience after imaginary events. The first replicated earlier findings suggesting that some young children respond to the events as though they had actually happened. However, events that had not been studied or thought about also were included in the test phase, and children indicated that many of these had happened to them as well. This suggested that something other than source misattribution for imagined events occurred for at least some children. A second study assessed whether children's affirmative responses to queries about imagined events having occurred reflected retrieval of the imagined event, acquiescence, or a yes response bias. Evidence of contributions to false assents from the retrieval of imagined events and yes response bias was strong, but the contribution of acquiescence was minimal.