ABSTRACT
It is no secret that memory is fallible. In both laboratory and everyday experiences we see errors of omission and commission, with the latter being particularly worrisome inasmuch as they can give rise to memory illusions about events that never occurred. Such memory errors are routinely studied using the Deese-RoedigerMcDermott (DRM) paradigm (Deese, 1959; Roediger & McDermott, 1995) where participants are presented with a list of associated words (e.g., nap , dream , pillow ) that are all linked to a nonpresented but related concept or critical lure (e.g., sleep ). When participants subsequently complete recall and recognition tests they often incorrectly identify the nonpresented critical lure as having been present in the previously studied list (see Gallo, 2010; Brainerd, Reyna, & Zember, 2011). Moreover, normally, younger children (e.g., 5-and 7-year-olds) exhibit fewer false memories than older children (e.g., 11-year-olds) and adults (e.g., see Howe, Wimmer, Gagnon, & Plumpton, 2009; but see Otgaar, Howe, Peters, Smeets, & Moritz, 2014; Otgaar, Howe, Brackmann, & Wang, this volume). Often these memory illusions are seen as a negative byproduct of the reconstructive processes inherent in memory. These negative byproducts are not restricted to the recollection of critical lures, but also include falsely remembering parts of events or entire events that never occurred. In extreme cases, false memories can have serious personal consequences, ones that can lead to the imprisonment of innocent people (e.g., Howe, 2013).
