CREATING FALSE MEMORIES - REMEMBERING WORDS NOT PRESENTED IN LISTS

Two experiments (modeled after J. Deese's 1959 study) revealed remarka ble levels of false recall and false recognition in a list learning pa radigm. In Experiment 1, subjects studied lists of 12 words (e.g., bed , rest, awake); each list was composed of associates of 1 nonpresented word (e.g., sleep). On immediate free recall tests, the nonpresented associates were recalled 40% of the time and were later recognized wit h high confidence. In Experiment 2, a false recall rate of 55% was obt ained with an expanded set of lists, and on a later recognition test, subjects produced false alarms to these items at a rate comparable to the hit rate. The act of recall enhanced later remembering of both stu died and nonstudied material. The results reveal a powerful illusion o f memory: People remember events that never happened.