This is the accepted version of the paper.This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. Permanent repository link AbstractThe effects of associative strength and gist relations on rates of children's and adults' true and false memories were examined in three experiments. Children aged 5 through 11 and universityaged adults participated in a standard Deese/Roediger-McDermott false memory task using DRM and category lists in two experiments and in the third, children memorized lists that differed in associative strength and semantic cohesion. In the first two experiments, half of the participants were primed before list presentation with gist-relevant cues and the results showed that: (1) both true and false memories increased with age, (2) true recall was higher than false recall for all ages, (3) at all ages, false memory rates were determined by backward associative strength, and (4) false memories varied predictably with changes in associative strength but were unaffected by gist manipulations (category structure or gist priming). In the third experiment, both gist and associative strength were varied orthogonally and the results showed that regardless of age, children's (5) true recall was affected by gist manipulations (semantic cohesion) and (6) false recall was affected by backward associative strength. These findings are discussed in the context of models of false memory illusions and continuities in memory development more generally.

This is the accepted version of the paper.This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. and children's (Experiment 2) true recall and recognition was better for neutral than negative items and although false recall was also higher for neutral items, false recognition was higher for negative items. The last three experiments examined adults' (Experiment 3) and children's (Experiments 4 and 5) one-week long-term recognition of neutral and negative-emotional information. The results replicated the immediate recall and recognition findings from the first two experiments. More important, these experiments showed that although true recognition decreased over the one-week interval, false recognition of neutral items remained unchanged whereas false recognition of negative-emotional items increased. These findings are discussed in terms of theories of emotion and memory as well as their forensic implications. Permanent repository linkKeywords: Valence and memory; False memory development; DRM paradigmValence and the Development of Immediate and Long-Term False Memory Illusions Our memory is a reconstructive process in which errors often occur (for an overview see Koriat, Goldsmith, & Pansky, 2000). That means that we might falsely remember details that we in fact did not encounter. In recent years, the development of false memories has been extensively studied with the Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm (Deese, 1959;Roediger & McDermott, 1995). Using this paradigm, participants are presented with word lists that consist of close semantic associates of a non-presented critical lure. For example, a list might consist of the words door, glass, pane, shade, ledge, sill, house, open, curtain, frame, view, breeze, sash, screen, and shutter which are all related to the non-presented word window. Studies have shown that participants have the tendency to falsely recall and recognize the critical lures during subsequent memory tests (for an overview see Gallo, 2006). Another robust finding obtained with the DRM paradigm is a reverse age effect. Specifically, studies have shown that the development of spontaneous false memories increases as a function of age (e.g., Brainerd, Reyna, & Brandse, 1995;Howe, 2005Howe, , 2006Howe, , 2008Sugrue & Hayne, 2006). The low levels of spontaneous false memories found in young children may be due to a failure to automatically access associative relations between list items and the critical lure (associative-activation theory, or AAT, e.g., Howe, 2005Howe, , 2008Howe, Gagnon, & Thouas, 2008;Howe, Wimmer, & Blease, 2009a;Howe, Wimmer, Gagnon, & Plumpton, 2009b) or to extract gist memories across words on DRM lists (fuzzy-trace theory, or FTT, e.g., Brainerd & Reyna, 2005).Despite the robust findings produced by the DRM paradigm, researchers have questioned the ecological validity of this paradigm (Freyd & Gleaves, 1996). One concern raised by Freyd and Gleaves is that in real world scenarios false memories often involve emotional events. To address this concer...

Running head: Children's understanding of ambiguous figures Acknowledgements We would like to thank the staff and pupils of Beaconhurst, Borestone, Braehead, Cambusbarron schools, and the University of Stirling Psychology Playgroup for their kind cooperation, and Robin N. Campbell and Anton Kühberger for comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript.

The effects of associative strength on rates of 7- and 11-year-old children's true and false memories were examined when category and Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) lists were used to cue the same critical lure. Backward associative strength (BAS) was varied such that the category and DRM lists had the same strength (DRM=category), DRM lists had more BAS (DRM>category), or category lists had more BAS (DRM