DO YOU REALLY KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE SEEN - INTRUSION ERRORS AND PRESUPPOSITIONS EFFECTS ON CONSTRUCTIVE MEMORY

Merely considering false propositions can lead to memory intrusions th at are more robust and less dependent on extraneous influences (demand or communicative factors) than expected in previous accounts. In Stud y 1, participants answered questions about the interior of a video-tap ed flat. Questions were given as presuppositions or in open format, an d referred to objects or nonobjects (not presented in film). Memory in trusions were systematically obtained, independently of demand or comm unicative effects, even when question contents had been correctly reje cted as false. Presuppositions led to more intrusion errors than open questions. Study 2 replicated these findings and demonstrated that int rusions are not contingent on forgetting the true source of falsely su ggested details. The effect increased with growing time delay between questioning and recognition. Study 3 obtained equivalent results with assertive statements and ruled out the ambiguity of denied proposition s. Both the basic intrusion effect as well as the presupposition advan tage are explained in terms of constructive memory processes. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.