The role of perceptual quality and processing fluency in the imagination inflation effect for autobiographical memory conjunction errors

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event The role of perceptual quality and processing fluency in the imagination inflation effect for autobiographical memory conjunction errors Aleea L. Devitt1*, Daniel L. Schacter2 and Donna Rose Addis1 1 The University of Auckland, New Zealand 2 Harvard University, United States Background: Memory conjunction errors are a type of false memory that can arise following the incorrect recombination of details from different veridical memories. The likelihood of a conjunction error arising is inflated when a past event is imagined involving the recombined details. Research on false memories for entirely fabricated events has identified two cognitive processes that may underlie this imagination inflation effect: 1, increased processing fluency following exposure to the event, which garners a sense of familiarity that is misattributed as an indicator of event authenticity, and 2, enrichment of perceptual quality following imagination, making the mental image phenomenologically similar to true memories. The current study elucidates the roles of processing fluency and perceptual detail in the imagination inflation effect for autobiographical memory (AM) conjunction errors. If this effect can be accounted for solely by increased fluency, then we would expect to see a similar degree of inflation following a non-imagination associative task. Methods: Conjunction lures were constructed by recombining person, place and object details taken from veridical autobiographical memories, and were divided between imagination and associative-task conditions. In the imagination condition, participants imagined a novel past event involving the details, while in the associative condition participants ranked the details based on subjective pleasantness. On a subsequent source monitoring test, AM conjunction errors occurred when conjunction lures were incorrectly judged as depicting real memories. Results: Conjunction lures in the imagination condition were falsely accepted as indicative of a real memory more often than conjunction lures in the associative condition. Increasing the perceptual quality of a conjunction lure via imagination inflated the rate of conjunction errors over and above the effect of increasing processing fluency. Discussion: These results are consistent with the perspective that imagining a conjunction event endows the mental image with perceptual detail, making it more likely to be confused as an authentic memory. These results have practical implications for applied situations in which memory authenticity is of high importance, such as in eyewitness testimony. Acknowledgements This study was funded by a Rutherford Discovery Fellowship awarded to DRA Keywords: Imagination, false memory, Processing fluency, source monitoring, autobiographical memory Conference: ACNS-2013 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference, Clayton, Melbourne, Australia, 28 Nov - 1 Dec, 2013. Presentation Type: Poster Topic: Memory Citation: Devitt AL, Schacter DL and Addis D (2013). The role of perceptual quality and processing fluency in the imagination inflation effect for autobiographical memory conjunction errors. Conference Abstract: ACNS-2013 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2013.212.00114 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 24 Sep 2013; Published Online: 25 Nov 2013. * Correspondence: Miss. Aleea L Devitt, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand, adev038@aucklanduni.ac.nz Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Aleea L Devitt Daniel L Schacter Donna Rose Addis Google Aleea L Devitt Daniel L Schacter Donna Rose Addis Google Scholar Aleea L Devitt Daniel L Schacter Donna Rose Addis PubMed Aleea L Devitt Daniel L Schacter Donna Rose Addis Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.