Children (but Not Adults) Can Inhibit False Memories

Abstract

The role of inhibition in children's (5-, 7-, and 11-year-olds') false memory illusions in the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm was examined using a list-wise directed-forgetting procedure. Children studied either a single DRM list (control) or two DRM lists in succession with a directed-remembering instruction or a directed-forgetting instruction between list presentations. The findings indicated that, like adults, children effectively suppressed the output of true memories when given a directed-forgetting instruction. Unlike adults, whose false memories are not attenuated in directed-forgetting conditions, children suppressed false memories at recall in the directed-forgetting condition. Because recognition data indicated that the children did generate false memories regardless of instruction, it appears that although adults' false memories are generated automatically and do not become part of their conscious experience, children's false memories are produced with greater effort and conscious processing, and as a result are easier to suppress at output.

Are children’s memory illusions created differently from those of adults? Evidence from levels-of-processing and divided attention paradigms

“…Specifically, research on directed forgetting shows that adults' true memory rates are significantly reduced under directed forgetting instructions whereas false memory rates are not (Kimball & Bjork, 2002;Seamon et al, 2002). In contrast, both children's true and false memory rates are reduced given a directed forgetting instruction (Howe, 2005;Howe, Toth, & Cicchetti, in press). Thus, according to these studies there appears to be qualitative, as well as quantitative, developmental differences in false memories after information has been generated or encoded such that false items may enter children's conscious awareness whereas they can remain outside of conscious awareness for adults.…”

“…In particular, the finding that children's false memories may be less automatic than those of adults but may be derived from more effortful conscious processing, may allow for using different memorial strategies (e.g., directed forgetting, Howe, 2005) in order to control for the occurrence of false memories in an interview situation and may in turn increase the reliability of children's forensic reports.…”

“…Alternatively, at the output stage the story is different. Here, in contrast to adults, children's false memories, like their true memories, all but disappeared when given a directed forgetting instruction (Howe, 2005). That is, children, but not adults, were able to inhibit false memories during the output phase.…”

“…To date there is only one study that examined the development of automatic associative processes in relation to false memories at the generation stage (Wimmer & Howe, 2009) and only a single study on automaticity at the output stage (Howe, 2005). In particular, using a modified DRM paradigm it has been shown that there is a developmental increase of automaticity in activating associative relations in one's knowledge base.…”

A brighter side to memory illusions: False memories prime children’s and adults’ insight-based problem solving

“…For example, recall that children are less susceptible than adults to spontaneous false memory illusions especially those induced using the DRM paradigm (e.g., Howe et al, 2009). One reason for this may be because spreading activation is less automatic in children's than adults' memory networks (see Howe, 2005;Howe et al, 2009;. Interestingly, these differences are often attenuated (although not always eliminated) when age-appropriate materials (ones that are congruent with children's knowledge base) are used (e.g., Anastasi & Rhodes, 2008).…”