Source attributions and false memories: A test of the demand characteristics account

When lists of related words are presented to subjects, they sometimes recal l or recognize nonpresented words related to those Lists (critical lures). in fact, subjects sometimes claim to remember which of two speakers said th e critical lures. We examined whether this finding could be accounted for b y demand characteristics. If subjects' willingness to make source attributi ons to critical lures reflects experimental demand, one would predict that subjects should be Milling to change and should have little confidence in t hese attributions. Subjects made more attributions, were less likely to cha nge their attributions, and were more confident in their attributions for c ritical lures than for unrelated distractors. Subjects had even more confid ence in the attributions that: they made for words that had actually been p resented, and they were even less likely to change these attributions. Thes e findings suggest that false memories are quite compelling but that they a re also subtly different from true memories.