Memory [JOURNAL]
Sun
200 papers
Internal structure of the prospective and retrospective memory questionnaire - PRMQ - in a sample of 297,242 participants.
Cecchini MA, Della Sala S, Logie RH
Memory · 2025 Oct · PMID 40952962 · Publisher ↗
The prospective and retrospective memory questionnaire (PRMQ) is one of the most widely used questionnaires to assess subjective memory through self-reporting of common memory failures. There have been mixed results in t...
The prospective and retrospective memory questionnaire (PRMQ) is one of the most widely used questionnaires to assess subjective memory through self-reporting of common memory failures. There have been mixed results in the literature regarding its internal structure. The early studies favoured a tripartite structure with one factor representing a general memory and two group factors representing retrospective (RM) and prospective memory (PM) components. Other findings favoured different structures, such as with only a single factor or only two factors (PM and RM). The objective of the present study was to verify the internal structure of the PRMQ in a very large sample and with precise modelling. We analysed data from 297,242 adult participants, with ages ranging from 18 to 79 years, and used exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis to examine the internal structure of PRMQ. The results showed that the model that best describes the data was one with a single factor. The tripartite model failed to converge and our results indicate that the PRMQ is a unidimensional instrument. This is relevant especially for researchers interested in using the PRMQ in future studies and professionals using the questionnaire in clinical settings.
Memory bumps across the lifespan in personally meaningful music.
Burunat I, Mavrolampados A, Duman D … +4 more , Koehler F, Saarikallio SH, Luck G, Toiviainen P
Memory · 2025 Nov · PMID 40952922 · Publisher ↗
Some songs stay with us for a lifetime. Even decades later, a few familiar notes can unlock vivid memories. Yet the life periods from which these songs originate and their prominence across age and gender remain underexp...
Some songs stay with us for a lifetime. Even decades later, a few familiar notes can unlock vivid memories. Yet the life periods from which these songs originate and their prominence across age and gender remain underexplored. This study examines lifespan patterns in music-related memory, focusing on age trends, gender differences, and the global presence of the "reminiscence bump", a peak in emotional connection to music from adolescence and early adulthood. While this phenomenon is well-documented in Western samples, its global manifestation, gendered dimensions and variation across life stages remains unexplored. Using responses collected from 1891 participants across diverse geographical backgrounds, we analysed the release years of personally meaningful songs. Results showed an inverted U-shaped distribution peaking at age 17, with men peaking earlier with a stable reminiscence bump into older age, while women showed a later peak and a stronger recency effect with age. This gender asymmetry, pronounced in older cohorts, highlights how age and gender shape the emotional salience of music. The findings reveal that musical memory is shaped by multiple temporal bumps - cascading (cross-generational), reminiscence (adolescence), and recency - each influenced by age and gender, offering new insights into how music gains emotional significance across the lifespan.
Resilience buffers the impact of trauma on autobiographical memory: a text analysis of daily autobiographical narratives.
Zhang S, Zang X, Lyu H
Memory · 2025 Oct · PMID 40952920 · Publisher ↗
Autobiographical memory plays a central role in behaviour regulation, social connection, and self-continuity, but may become emotionally biased after traumatic experiences. Resilience, defined as the capacity to adapt ef...
Autobiographical memory plays a central role in behaviour regulation, social connection, and self-continuity, but may become emotionally biased after traumatic experiences. Resilience, defined as the capacity to adapt effectively to stress and adversity, is widely linked to psychological recovery. However, few studies have examined whether resilience can buffer emotional biases in daily autobiographical memory, particularly among trauma-exposed individuals. Therefore, the current study aimed to examine this relationship using ecological momentary assessment (EMA). Seventy-nine participants (mean age = 22.26, 68.4% women) completed the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) and reported autobiographical memories five times daily for seven consecutive days. Emotional valence features were extracted using natural language processing (NLP), including lexical-level features (e.g., negative term frequency) and sentence-level semantic features (e.g., positive sentence ratio). Multilevel modelling showed that while resilience was not associated with lexical-level features, it significantly predicted more positive and fewer negative emotional expressions at the semantic level. Moreover, negative memory entries tended to be followed by similarly negative content in subsequent entries, whereas positive entries did not exhibit such continuity. These results suggest that resilience may serve as a protective factor against the emotional effects of trauma in daily memory recall, offering potential insights for clinical intervention.
Are memorability judgements suggestible?
Wan Y, Nash RA, Pennington CR
Memory · 2025 Sep · PMID 40952914 · Publisher ↗
How do we determine whether something that we do not remember actually occurred? People rely partially on judging memorability: when non-remembered events seem memorable, we infer that they did not happen, but when those...
How do we determine whether something that we do not remember actually occurred? People rely partially on judging memorability: when non-remembered events seem memorable, we infer that they did not happen, but when those events seem unmemorable, we might infer instead that they were forgotten. In five online experiments (total = 1544) we examined whether memorability judgements are susceptible to false suggestions. Participants encoded pictures, then completed a test containing old and new pictures. Some test pictures were accompanied by feedback specifying whether they were old or new; however, in a small number of cases, new pictures were falsely identified as "old". For each picture, participants rated familiarity, subjective memorability, and made judgements of learning. A mega-analysis of Experiments 1-4 showed that participants rated new pictures as less memorable after they received false "old" feedback, compared to no feedback. Moreover, this small feedback effect was stronger for those pictures that people on average found more memorable: a finding replicated in Experiment 5. These findings provide initial empirical evidence that false suggestions, in some circumstances, could subtly shift some people from reasoning "I'd remember this, if it had happened" toward reasoning "I don't remember this, so maybe it's forgettable".
Transitional impact of important life events among Czechs and Slovaks.
Štěpánková L, Ježek S
Memory · 2025 Nov · PMID 40928487 · Publisher ↗
This study explores the relationship between cultural life scripts and actual life stories of Czechs and Slovaks, building on prior research by Štěpánková et al. (2020. Czech and Slovak life scripts: The rare case of two...
This study explores the relationship between cultural life scripts and actual life stories of Czechs and Slovaks, building on prior research by Štěpánková et al. (2020. Czech and Slovak life scripts: The rare case of two countries that used to be one. , (10), 1204-1218) that examined the semantic knowledge of an ideal life within the Czech and Slovak cultures (cultural life scripts). The current study investigates the extent to which individual life stories align with or diverge from these cultural life scripts. A clear reminiscence bump - a concentration of positive memories between the ages of 15 and 30 - was observed in participants' life stories. The impact of most important life events was analysed using the Transitional Impact Scale (TIS). Results showed that positive cultural script-consistent events yielded the highest TIS scores, while unique, script-divergent negative events had greater impact on psychological dimension of the TIS than their positive counterparts. These findings are discussed in the context of existing literature, highlighting their theoretical implications and alignment with prior research.
Asymmetric item isolation effects: support for a process difference between absolute and relative judgments.
Jou J
Memory · 2025 Oct · PMID 40923527 · Publisher ↗
This study used an odd (isolated) item inserted into a homogeneous serial list to investigate process differences between absolute- and relative-order judgments. The serial list consisted of eight names of people ordered...
This study used an odd (isolated) item inserted into a homogeneous serial list to investigate process differences between absolute- and relative-order judgments. The serial list consisted of eight names of people ordered in height. These were all male or female names except the fourth name which was of the opposite gender. A name/rank pair accuracy recognition test was used as the absolute judgment, and a comparative judgment (comparing height ranks between two names) as the relative judgment. Reaction time (RT) was the dependent measure for the close-to-ceiling accurate performance. Although the isolated item gained a memory advantage in both the absolute and relative judgments, the magnitudes of the effects differed greatly between the two judgments. For the absolute judgment, the isolated item's RT dropped below the levels of the two end terms, transforming the homogeneous condition's bow-shaped serial-position curve into one with two fully blown bowings. On the other hand, the isolated item caused only a moderate dent on the relative-judgment function with the curve keeping the original overall single-bowing shape. A hypothesis suggesting that absolute judgments are based more on individual-item specific information processing whereas relative judgments more on relational-information processing was proposed to explain the asymmetric isolation effects.
Group gains or shared pains: how social pressure influences criterion shifting.
Durdle CAS, Layher E, Chuey J … +2 more , Mackin M, Miller MB
Memory · 2025 Sep · PMID 40920491 · Publisher ↗
Criterion shifting reflects a complex interplay between cognitive strategies and external influences, yet individuals differ markedly in their tendency to adjust decision thresholds. While some readily adapt their criter...
Criterion shifting reflects a complex interplay between cognitive strategies and external influences, yet individuals differ markedly in their tendency to adjust decision thresholds. While some readily adapt their criteria in response to task demands, others maintain more rigid thresholds, raising questions about the extent to which external pressures - such as social influence - can drive greater flexibility. Findings from social psychology reveal that social pressure can heavily impact individual decision-making, suggesting that such pressures may also impact individual criterion shifting tendencies. Two experiments were conducted to explore how different social contexts influence criterion shifting and memory performance during recognition tests. Experiment 1 sought to assess whether monetary rewards or social competition could alter criterion shifting strategies. However, neither manipulation significantly affected the extent of criterion shifting. In Experiment 2, participants were informed that their performance would affect other group members, which resulted in higher discriminability scores () but did not affect criterion shifting tendencies. These findings suggest that criterion shifting tendencies remain robust even in socially motivated contexts, further emphasising their stability across external influences.
Understanding mental replay duration for continuous events: the roles of recall initiation and central tendency.
Leroy N, D'Argembeau A
Memory · 2025 Oct · PMID 40911775 · Publisher ↗
Remembering past events usually takes less time than their actual duration - events are temporally compressed in memory. A recent study found that this compression is not systematic but emerges when continuous events exc...
Remembering past events usually takes less time than their actual duration - events are temporally compressed in memory. A recent study found that this compression is not systematic but emerges when continuous events exceed approximately 9 s. Unexpectedly, however, remembering shorter events (3-6 s) took more time than their actual duration. Here, we aimed to investigate the mechanisms behind this increased replay duration of short events. In Experiment 1, we developed a corrected measure accounting for recall initiation time - the time needed to access the beginning of the event. With this correction, the longer replay times for short events disappeared, suggesting the effect was partly due to unmeasured recall initiation time. In Experiment 2, we examined the potential role of a central tendency bias by exposing participants to different ranges of event durations. Replay duration was influenced by the event's relative position within the duration range, consistent with a central tendency bias. However, for events longer than 9 s, temporal compression occurred consistently across all conditions. Together, these findings suggest that while central tendency influences replay duration, temporal compression systematically emerges when events exceed a few seconds, likely reflecting memory capacity limits in representing continuous experiences.
The influence of free choice on recognition memory in the face of distraction.
Fröber K, Pastötter B
Memory · 2025 Oct · PMID 40911719 · Publisher ↗
Recognition memory is typically better for items learned after a free choice (independent of study material) than after a forced choice. However, previous studies presented to-be-remembered items in isolation, whereas ev...
Recognition memory is typically better for items learned after a free choice (independent of study material) than after a forced choice. However, previous studies presented to-be-remembered items in isolation, whereas everyday learning often occurs alongside distractors. Therefore, this study investigated the effect of free versus forced choice on recognition memory in a learning situation with both relevant (to-be-remembered) and irrelevant (to-be-ignored) items. Experiment 1 (N = 62) used word-picture combinations, and Experiment 2 (N = 59) used audio-visual word combinations. In both experiments, participants either chose themselves (free choice) or were instructed (forced choice) which item category to remember before presentation of the compound stimulus. Experiment 1 found better recognition for relevant than irrelevant items, with free choice additionally improving memory specifically for relevant items. Experiment 2 showed descriptively the same pattern, although the interaction was not significant. Exploratory pooled analyses across experiments confirmed that free choice selectively improved recognition memory for relevant, but not irrelevant items. Taken together, participants were able to learn selectively in the face of irrelevant distractors, and more importantly, having some control over the learning situation seemed to further improve memory specifically for relevant items. This suggests that self-directed learning is beneficial even in situations with irrelevant distraction.
Working memory capacity and the saving-enhanced memory effect.
Buchli DR, Storm BC
Memory · 2025 Sep · PMID 40879669 · Publisher ↗
People often save information by storing it on a computer or smartphone for future use, thus preserving cognitive economy and reducing processing demands [Risko, E. F., & Gilbert, S. J. (2016). Cognitive offloading. , (9...
People often save information by storing it on a computer or smartphone for future use, thus preserving cognitive economy and reducing processing demands [Risko, E. F., & Gilbert, S. J. (2016). Cognitive offloading. , (9), 676-688. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2016.07.002]. Such cognitive offloading is associated with mnemonic benefits including a phenomenon known as saving-enhanced memory. [Storm, B. C., & Stone, S. M. (2015). Saving-enhanced memory: The benefits of saving on the learning and remembering of new information. Psychological Science, 26(2), 182-188. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797614559285] showed that when participants are prompted to study two lists of words, saving the first list (i.e., by saving the associated file onto a computer) can enhance their ability to remember the second list. Saving is believed to serve as a form of cognitive offloading, reducing cognitive load and interference from the first list, and allowing for the re-allocation of cognitive resources towards the encoding of the second list. The present study investigated whether working memory capacity (WMC) is associated with the ability to take advantage of this kind of saving-enhanced memory. Results from three experiments revealed a significant positive correlation, such that participants with high WMC demonstrated a larger saving-enhanced memory effect than participants with low WMC. This finding provides new insight into the importance of control processes in the functioning of memory, suggesting that WMC enhances a person's ability to benefit from the use of saving as a form of cognitive offloading.
Eyewitness suspect identification: six claims regarding the state of the science.
Lindsay DS, Wixted JT, Fitzgerald RJ … +3 more , Hyman IE, Mickes L, Wade KA
Memory · 2025 Aug · PMID 40874292 · Publisher ↗
Psychological science on eyewitness suspect identification has a long and rich history. A few decades ago, modal expert opinion emphasised eyewitnesses' fallibility, and it was widely held that identifications made with...
Psychological science on eyewitness suspect identification has a long and rich history. A few decades ago, modal expert opinion emphasised eyewitnesses' fallibility, and it was widely held that identifications made with high confidence are only slightly more likely to be accurate than those made with low confidence. The authors of this invited Contemporary Discussion agree that current science compels a more nuanced perspective in which the relationship between eyewitnesses' confidence and their accuracy varies predictably depending on specifics of how the suspect was selected, how the identification test was designed, when and how it was administered, and when confidence was assessed. We tender claims regarding conditions under which we believe lineup identification responses can be strongly inculpating. We also articulate claims regarding conditions under which we believe identification responses can be strongly exculpating. While most of the claims described herein were previously advanced by individual scientists, what is new - and important - is that they now reflect an emerging scientific consensus. We do not assert that every claim is firmly established, but we advance arguments for believing they are true. In addition, we propose multiple lines of laboratory and field studies aimed at advancing understanding of these issues.
Classic free recall memory effects using video stimuli.
Bennion KA, Venturini MC, Reyes H … +3 more , Cheng K, Kendra Eng T, Antony JW
Memory · 2025 Sep · PMID 40854020 · Publisher ↗
Several effects have been discovered to explain memory for lists of words. However, demonstrations of these effects are scant for other common types of stimuli like short videos. Here, we had participants encode and reca...
Several effects have been discovered to explain memory for lists of words. However, demonstrations of these effects are scant for other common types of stimuli like short videos. Here, we had participants encode and recall lists of TikTok videos that were presented either in categorical groups or mixed. We found that several classic memory effects were preserved, including proactive interference across lists and primacy and recency effects within lists. Furthermore, after computing semantic similarity on video descriptions, we found that successively recalled videos were more semantically related only within the categorised group (semantic contiguity). Conversely, although both groups clustered recall to nearby items from encoding (temporal contiguity), this was stronger in the mixed group. These findings replicate and extend prior research on word lists to video stimuli, allowing generalisations of prior findings to this increasingly common form of communication.
Error rates for high confidence eyewitness identifications.
Fitzgerald RJ, Hyman IE, Wade KA
Memory · 2025 Oct · PMID 40827741 · Publisher ↗
Eyewitness identification of strangers is vulnerable to error, even if the eyewitness reports high confidence at the initial police identification procedure. In support of this claim, we report a new meta-analysis of dat...
Eyewitness identification of strangers is vulnerable to error, even if the eyewitness reports high confidence at the initial police identification procedure. In support of this claim, we report a new meta-analysis of data from actual criminal investigations. This analysis shows that when eyewitnesses were tested in the field by a blind lineup administrator, 1/8 of the high confidence identifications were known errors, i.e., mistaken identifications of lineup fillers. We argue that these field data are more informative than the available wrongful conviction data because in the latter eyewitness confidence at the initial identification procedure was almost never recorded. Our claim is also supported by lab data, which show that error rates for high-confidence identifications of the suspect can range from 0 to 40%, depending on the level of bias against the suspect. We highlight three types of suspect bias: appearance-based suspicion, social media contamination, and misplaced prior familiarity.
When eyewitness memory reliably exonerates the wrongfully convicted.
Mickes L, Wixted JT
Memory · 2025 Oct · PMID 40813856 · Publisher ↗
We challenge the longstanding belief that wrongful convictions mainly reflect the unreliability of eyewitness memory, arguing instead that they often reflect the criminal justice system's failure to heed the witness's in...
We challenge the longstanding belief that wrongful convictions mainly reflect the unreliability of eyewitness memory, arguing instead that they often reflect the criminal justice system's failure to heed the witness's initial identification decision. The initial memory test is special because it minimises the two main threats to accuracy - forgetting and contamination. Several lines of evidence suggest that eyewitnesses are more reliable on the initial test than previously recognised. First, laboratory studies show that initial confidence strongly predicts accuracy. Second, field studies using pristine lineups report few high-confidence misidentifications of innocent suspects. And third, analyses of DNA exoneration cases suggest that confident misidentifications at trial often contradict the witness's initial decision. On the initial test, these eyewitnesses often provided reliable evidence of innocence. This understanding offers a new approach to exonerating the innocent and preventing wrongful convictions: evaluate only the initial test, whether or not it was properly conducted.
Cultural life scripts and life stories of heterosexual and sexual minority parents in Brazil and the United Kingdom.
Silva BB, Felinto TM, Wagner A … +1 more , Frost DM
Memory · 2025 Sep · PMID 40794419 · Publisher ↗
Not all of our experiences can be included in the narrative of our lives. When recalling their life stories, people must select their most relevant experiences to represent who they are. The way these events are recalled...
Not all of our experiences can be included in the narrative of our lives. When recalling their life stories, people must select their most relevant experiences to represent who they are. The way these events are recalled and chosen is influenced by cultural expectations about what a typical life should look like. Studies investigating these cultural life scripts typically focus on specific nationalities. Our study explores the expectations and experiences of heterosexual and sexual minority parents from Brazil and the United Kingdom. We asked participants to report the five events most likely to occur in the life of a child from their culture, gender, and sexual orientation, as well as the five most important events in their own lives. The results revealed similarities between the expected and experienced events of participants from both cultures and sexual orientations, but also significant specificities. Sexual minority parents reported more events related to minority stress than heterosexual parents. Additionally, Brazilian participants reported more expected and experienced events during and before the reminiscence bump period. These findings support the cultural life script account of the reminiscence bump and highlight important group-specific differences.
When personal narratives meet historical events: how the multi-crisis context in Lebanon is shaping life narrative temporality.
Boulos LJ, Rigoulot L, Fares M … +4 more , Kai NA, Khaty R, Zahran F, Allé MC
Memory · 2025 Aug · PMID 40760782 · Publisher ↗
The Lebanese population experiences a unique context of continuous collective crises, exposing individuals to chronic challenges, adversities, and uncertainties over time. Certain historical events, such as wars and natu...
The Lebanese population experiences a unique context of continuous collective crises, exposing individuals to chronic challenges, adversities, and uncertainties over time. Certain historical events, such as wars and natural disasters, were found to play a pivotal role in shaping individuals' autobiographical periods, highlighting the interplay between collective history and individual's memory. The present study investigated how chronic exposure to multiple collective crises impacts individuals' identity. We examined the narrative identity of 43 Lebanese individuals, analysing the temporal organisation and coherence of their life stories, and we compared them to those of 43 French participants, living in a relatively stable, conflict-free country. The results showed that Lebanese life narratives: (1) displayed lower temporal coherence, (2) relied more on historical events and less on conventional life phases to structure personal stories, and (3) often began later in life or exhibited less temporally oriented beginnings, compared to their French counterparts. These differences could not be explained by the degree of personal exposure to collective crises, mental health measures, or cognitive functioning, as no significant correlations were found. Instead, the results provide compelling evidence that a collective history of multiple crises reconfigures the temporal structure of individuals' life story, affecting their narrative identity.
Does processing level at retrieval moderate the testing effect? Evidence of an asymmetry between study-based encoding and retrieval-based encoding.
Buchin ZL, Mulligan NW
Memory · 2025 Sep · PMID 40744894 · Publisher ↗
Retrieval often enhances memory more than restudy (i.e., the testing effect), reflecting the encoding (or re-encoding) effects of retrieval. The present study assessed how similar these retrieval-based encoding processes...
Retrieval often enhances memory more than restudy (i.e., the testing effect), reflecting the encoding (or re-encoding) effects of retrieval. The present study assessed how similar these retrieval-based encoding processes are to more typical study-based encoding processes. Deep (semantic) processing at encoding benefits memory more than shallow (non-semantic) processing (i.e., levels of processing). If retrieval-based encoding operates similarly, an analogous levels of retrieval effect should occur, with semantic retrieval increasing the benefits of retrieval more than non-semantic retrieval. Participants studied short lists of words, each followed by restudy or retrieval trials, in preparation for a recognition test taken immediately (Experiment 1) or two days later (Experiments 1 and 2). Participants restudied words alongside phonemic or semantic cues, or retrieved words given those cues. In Experiment 2, participants completed two additional rounds of restudy or retrieval. To isolate the effects of processing level on retrieval, testing effects were calculated for each level by subtracting performance in each restudy condition from the corresponding retrieval condition. There was no evidence of a levels of retrieval effect - the benefit from phonemic retrieval over phonemic restudy was either similar (Experiment 1) or greater (Experiment 2) than the benefit from semantic retrieval over semantic restudy.
Virtual reality and smartphone utilisation for the examination and enhancement of working memory load for visual and auditory dual tasking.
Theunissen TPM, Pieterse ME, De Cort K … +2 more , Matthijssen SJMA, Schruers KRJ
Memory · 2025 Sep · PMID 40743399 · Publisher ↗
During Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, patients recall traumatic memories while performing dual attention tasks to tax the limited capacity of the working memory (WM). Increasing WM load dur...
During Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, patients recall traumatic memories while performing dual attention tasks to tax the limited capacity of the working memory (WM). Increasing WM load during recall has shown to improve memory-degrading effects. This research aims to explore how technological tools can be used to more effectively increase WM load. Two experiments involving healthy participants utilised Random Interval Repetition (RIR) tasks to investigate the WM-taxing effects of specific digital dual-attention tasks and task manipulations. In experiment 1 ( = 41), conducted in a lab-based virtual reality setting, participants performed auditory RIR tasks while varying the speed and direction of eye movements (EM), with or without an additional visual RIR task. Experiment 2 ( = 49), conducted online via a smartphone application, compared solo and combined auditory and visual RIR tasks presented either simultaneously or serially under varying EM speeds. Results showed that combining RIR tasks increased auditory RTs, while a simultaneous combination and higher EM speeds selectively increased visual RTs only. These findings suggest that task addition and manipulation effectively increase WM load, though the involvement of WM sub-modalities and high-demand tasks influences their effects. These insights could refine face-to-face and online EMDR practices and optimise therapeutic effectiveness.
Both sides now: visual perspective switching in episodic future thought and its relationship to dissociation.
Kinley I, Becker S
Memory · 2025 Sep · PMID 40736511 · Publisher ↗
Visual perspective in episodic memory and future thinking is conventionally treated as a one-dimensional construct, with first- and third-person perspectives at two poles of a continuum. However, given the opportunity, i...
Visual perspective in episodic memory and future thinking is conventionally treated as a one-dimensional construct, with first- and third-person perspectives at two poles of a continuum. However, given the opportunity, individuals often ascribe both of these perspectives to their imagery of a single event. In the present study, we found that "dual-perspective" imagery (involving switching between first- and third-person perspectives) is slightly more common than third-person imagery and is associated with higher self-reported ratings of centrality (importance in an individual's life story) and emotional intensity than other perspective categories. Moreover, dual-perspective imagery was correlated with dissociative experiences but unrelated to self-reported memory and prospection abilities. We suggest, based on other known correlates of dissociation (such as daydreaming and absorption), that switching between first- and third-person perspectives may be indicative of elaborative processing of and deeper engagement with imagined future events.
Investigating how adopting different deceptive strategies simultaneously affects memory.
Battista F, Otgaar H, Mangiulli I … +1 more , Curci A
Memory · 2025 Jul · PMID 40729591 · Publisher ↗
Research has shown that lying can affect memory differently depending on the type of strategy (e.g., false denials, feigning amnesia, fabrication). At present, no studies have investigated how using different strategies...
Research has shown that lying can affect memory differently depending on the type of strategy (e.g., false denials, feigning amnesia, fabrication). At present, no studies have investigated how using different strategies simultaneously while replying to questions concerning the event impacts on memory. Hence, in the present experiment, participants watched a mock crime video, then they either told the truth (i.e., truth-telling group) or lied about the crime by adopting the three deceptive strategies (i.e., mixed lying group). We also included a third group that did not answer any question (i.e., delayed testing-only control group). After one-week, all participants provided an honest account of their memory for the interview and the crime, along with memory and belief ratings. Lying exerted an undermining effect on memory. That is, liars reported an impaired recall (i.e., fewer correct details and higher commissions) of the event and the interview as compared with those in the truth-telling group. However, the delayed testing-only control group reported a higher impairment than liars and truth-tellers. These findings provide insightful information on the possible mechanisms behind the effects of lying on memory (e.g., lack of rehearsal).
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