Memory is the cognitive function that allows you to encode, store and retrieve information (Eustache, 2017). It is a function that occupies an important place in our lives. Indeed, it enables to remember the past but also to project in the future (Eustache, 2017). It is it that allows us to build our identity (Angel, Fay, & Isingrini, 2010). There are two versions of the vision of memory: there is the reproductive vision that considers memory as a layer of reality, which faithfully reproduces the information as it was lived. Thus, this vision assumes that memory is unerring. However, it soon became apparent that memory is not foolproof. Thus, the reconstructive vision of memory puts more emphasis on the malleable nature of memory. As part of this vision, memory is viewed as a constructive process that can lead to errors (Schacter, Norman, & Koutstaal, 1998). In this way, it appears that memory does not always accurately reflect the information and that there may be so-called false memories. It is then memories of events that have never happened or transformed memories of an event that took place (Roediger & McDermott, 1995).
Several paradigms have been created to study the production of false memories. One of the best known is the DRM paradigm developed by Roediger and McDermott (1995) on the basis of Deese’s work (1959). This paradigm consists in having participants write word lists. In each list, all the words are associated with a word that is never presented: the critical lure. The participants are then led to recall and / or recognize the items presented. The literature has shown that participants recognize critical lures as well as text words with a high degree of certainty. This paradigm is widely used in research and may be subject to some criticism. Other paradigms were then created including the paradigm of inferences developed by Gras, Tardieu, Nicolas (2008). It is a more ecological paradigm than the DRM paradigm since it is based on the reading and comprehension of texts. This paradigm is based on predictive inferences: they correspond to expectations of what will happen in the following of a read text. Participants are therefore led to read the texts. After each text, a question of understanding is put to them and then they are led to recall and / or recognize the words read in the text. We look at the fact of making inferences by leading participants to produce false memories
If everyone makes false memories, the literature has found that older people are more prone to this phenomenon. Indeed, several studies conducted with an elderly population using the DRM paradigm show that with the advancing age, there is a decrease in the amount of information retained. Indeed, they recall fewer words presented compared to young participants. With advancing age, there is also a decline in the quality of information: older participants are more likely to produce false memories than younger participants. However, the use of the inference paradigm has shown a lack of difference between young and old in the production of false memories. In this way, it seemed interesting to us to look at this question and thus to compare these two paradigms on the production of correct recognitions and false memories with an elderly population.
We therefore conducted a study of sixty-four people aged at least seventy who were passed the DRM paradigm and the inference paradigm. The results showed that participants produced a similar number of correct acknowledgments within both paradigms. Moreover, they were also sure of their answers in both paradigms. In contrast, participants produced more false memories in the DRM paradigm than in the inference paradigm. Also, they were more sure of their response when they made a false recognition in the DRM paradigm than in the inference paradigm. This study thus showed a greater tendency to produce false memories in the DRM paradigm than in the inference paradigm within an older population.
Words that I have learn : foolproof ; acknowledgments; faithfully ; certainty; unerring
Bibliography:
Angel, L., Fay, S., & Isingrini, M. (2010). Exploration électrophysiologique de la mémoire épisodique dans le vieillissement normal. L’Année psychologique, 110(4), 595–628.
Deese, J. (1959). On the prediction of occurrence of particular verbal intrusions in immediate recall.. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 58(1), 17–22
Eustache, F. (2017). Pourquoi notre mémoire est-elle si fragile ?. Paris, France: Humensis.
Gras, D., Tardieu, H., & Nicolas, S. (2008). Faux souvenirs et vieillissement : les effets de l’âge sur les inférences prédictives. Psychol NeuroPsychiatr Vieil, 6(4), 299–307.
Roediger, H.L. & McDermott, K.B. (1995). Creating False Memories: Remembering Words Not Presented in Lists. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 21(4), 803-814
Schacter, D. L., Norman, K. A., & Koutstaal, W. (1998). The cognitive neuroscience of constructive memory. Annual Review of Psychology, 49(1), 289–318. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.49.1.289