Journal of Experimental Psychology Learning Memory and Cognition 2001 Vol 27 No 4 920 930 Copyright 2001 by the American Psychological Association Inc O278 7393 Ol 5 OO DOI 10 1037 0278 7393 27 4 920 Comparing Recollective Experience in True and False Autobiographical Memories Christopher M Heaps Michael Nash Linfield College University of Tennessee Knoxville This study investigated whether true autobiographical memories are qualitatively distinct from false autobiographical memories using a variation of the interview method originally reported by E F Loftus and J Pickrell 1995 Participants recalled events provided by parents on 3 separate occasions and were asked to imagine true and false unremembered events True memories were rated by both participants and observers as more rich in recollective experience and were rated by participants as more important more emotionally intense as having clearer imagery and as less typical than false memories Rehearsal frequency was used as a covariate eliminating these effects Imagery in true memories was most often viewed from the field perspective whereas imagery in false memories was most often viewed from the observer perspective More information was communicated in true memories and true memories contained more information concerning the consequences of described events Results suggest repeated remembering can make false memories more rich in recollective experience and more like true memories Differences between true and false memories suggest some potentially distinct characteristics of false memories and provide insight into the process of false memory creation hopes that potential differences between true memories1 and false memories may provide insight into how false memories are constructed and whether such memory errors can be prevented Indeed a more complete understanding of the nature of false memories has implications for the theoretical conceptualization of memory and the process of remembering as well as for applied situations in which the veridicality of memories can be at issue Autobiographical memories represent a particularly useful set of experiences for exploring the possibility that there are characteristically distinct attributes of false memories Simply put memories for the experiences of one s own life are often rich and complex representations Barclay Smith 1992 Barsalou 1988 Brewer 1988 Conway Rubin 1993 Autobiographical memories are generally acknowledged as a separate type of episodic memory by virtue of the role of the self and the priority of one s own experience in memory Available evidence and current thinking concerning autobiographical memory Barclay 1996 Barclay DeCooke 1988 Barclay Subramaniam 1987 posit a strong relationship between how autobiographical experiences are remembered and indeed which experiences are remembered and the process of constructing personally meaningful representations of one s past Barsalou 1988 Bruner 1986 Csikszentmihalkyi Beattie 1979 James 1890 Neisser 1988a In terms of recollective experience autobiographical memories are often experienced as partially remembered and partially only known about Conway 1997 Researchers have demonstrated that unremembered portions of autobiographical memories are often reported as remembered after repeated retelling Bartlett 1932 Conway 1992 Neis False memories can be defined as false beliefs about the past that are experienced as memories Lampinen Neuschatz Payne 1998 False memories are accompanied by what is often referred to as remember experiences see Gardiner Java 1993 Rajaram Roediger 1997 Remember experiences constitute episodic retrieval and are characterized by recollective experience the awareness of aspects of the encoding event such as images thoughts feelings and knowledge specific to the event a general sense of pastness Tulving 1985 Other beliefs about the past whether true or false may lack such accompanying awareness Tulving s call for increased attention to the experience of remembering and recent demonstrations of false memories in a variety of contexts have led to the investigation of more specific questions concerning how false memories are remembered Are there ways for example to distinguish between memories of authentic experiences and representations of fictitious events that have become memories American Psychiatric Association 1994 Conway Collins Gathercole Anderson 1996 Johnson Foley Suengas Raye 1988 Johnson et al 1997 Kihlstrom 1994 Pezdek Finger Hodge 1997 Steller Koehnken 1989 Researchers have begun to evaluate recollective experience in false memories in the Christopher M Heaps Department of Psychology Linfield College Michael Nash Department of Psychology University of Tennessee Knoxville We thank Andrew Felts Kristen Kaserman Rose LeTard Elizabeth McSwiney and Brenda Nelson for their assistance with data analysis We also thank Stephen Handel Lawrence James Michael G Johnson and Howard Pollio for their thoughtful reviews and assistance with the preparation of this article Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Christopher M Heaps Department of Psychology Linfield College 900 Southeast Baker Street McMinnville Oregon 97128 Electronic mail may be sent to cheaps linfield edu 1 It should be noted that the term true memory does not denote a memorial representation s veridicality only the existence of corresponding previous experience 920 COMPARING RECOLLECTTVE EXPERIENCE ser 1988b Neisser Fivush 1994 and memory researchers have long recognized such memories as salient examples of the fragility of memory Baddeley 1989 Neisser 1982 Neisser Harsch 1992 Thus recollective experience in autobiographical memories may be particularly susceptible to reconstructive effects and these effects may result in recollective experience distinct from that generally accompanying true autobiographical memories At present the precise ways in which such recollective experience may differ are unknown but some hypotheses have been offered These hypotheses are explored in detail below Investigation of false autobiographical memories has begun with techniques often used in clinical and forensic settings that are designed to produce memory recovery Kassin 1997 Ofshe Watters 1994 see also Maltz 1991 One such technique is the imagination of unremembered or unclear events Participants are encouraged to use prior knowledge to create novel images and narratives of unremembered events In such cases imagination may involve the
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