Imagination Reduces False Memories for Everyday Action Sentences: Evidence From Pragmatic Inferences

Human memory can be unreliable, and when reading a sentence with a pragmatic implication, such as “the karate champion hit the cinder block,” people often falsely remember that the karate champion “broke” the cinder block. Yet, research has shown that encoding instructions affect the false memories we form. On the one hand, instructing participants to imagine themselves manipulating the to-be-recalled items increase false memories (imagination inflation effect). But on the other hand, instructions to imagine have reduced false memories in the DRM paradigm (imagination facilitation effect). Here, we explored the effect of imaginal encoding with pragmatic inferences, a way to study false memories for information about everyday actions. Across two experiments, we manipulated imaginal encoding through the instructions given to participants and the after-item filler task (none vs. math operations). In Experiment 1, participants were either assigned to the encoding condition of imagine+no filler; pay attention+math; or memorize+math. In Experiment 2, the encoding instructions (imagine vs. memorize) and the filler task (none vs. math) were compared across four separate conditions. Results from the two experiments showed that imagination instructions lead to better memory, by showing a higher proportion of correct responses and better performance in a memory benefit index. Similarly, a significant reduction of false memories was observed across both experiments, even though a complementary Bayesian analysis only supported this conclusion for Experiment 1. The findings show that imaginal encoding improves memory, suggesting the engagement of a distinctiveness heuristic and source-monitoring process.

Digital Detectives: Websleuthing Reduces Eyewitness Identification Accuracy in Police Lineups

Eyewitnesses to crimes sometimes search for a culprit on social media before viewing a police lineup, but it is not known whether this affects subsequent lineup identification accuracy. The present online study was conducted to address this. Two hundred and eighty-five participants viewed a mock crime video, and after a 15–20 min delay either (i) viewed a mock social media site including the culprit, (ii) viewed a mock social media site including a lookalike, or (iii) completed a filler task. A week later, participants made an identification from a photo lineup. It was predicted that searching for a culprit on social media containing the lookalike (rather than the culprit) would reduce lineup identification accuracy. There was a significant association between social media exposure and lineup accuracy for the Target Present lineup (30% more of the participants who saw the lookalike on social media failed to positively identify the culprit than participants in the other conditions), but for the Target Absent lineup (which also included the lookalike) there was no significant association with lineup identification accuracy. The results suggest that if an eyewitness sees a lookalike (where they are expecting to see the culprit) when conducting a self-directed search on social media, they are less likely to subsequently identify the culprit in the formal ID procedure.

Training Users to Identify Phishing Emails

Phishing emails pose a serious threat to individuals and organizations. Users’ ability to identify phishing emails is critical to avoid becoming victims of these attacks. The current study examined the effectiveness of a short online phishing training program designed to help users identify phishing emails. Half of the participants were in the training group and the other half worked on a control filler task. The training group’s sensitivity ( d′) at correctly classifying emails as legitimate or phishing increased by 1.14 whereas the control group’s sensitivity increased by only 0.48. This difference in d' changes was significant, t(38) = 2.05, p = .048. This improvement in performance was likely due to users learning how to check reliable cues and interpret them. Despite a sizeable improvement in detecting phishing emails, the training group correctly classified only about two-thirds of phishing emails. Accordingly, a short training program appears beneficial, but a more comprehensive training program would be needed to reduce vulnerability to an acceptable level.

After-Action Reviews and Long-Term Performance: An Experimental Examination in the Context of an Emergency Simulation

Objective The present study examined the effectiveness of after-action reviews (AARs; also known as debriefing) in mitigating skill decay. Background Research on the long-term effectiveness of AARs is meager. To address this gap in the literature, we conducted an experimental study that also overcomes some research design issues that characterize the limited extant research. Method Eighty-four participants were randomly assigned to an AAR or non-AAR condition and trained to operate a PC-based fire emergency simulator. During the initial acquisition phase, individuals in the AAR condition were allowed to review their performance after each practice session, whereas individuals in the non-AAR condition completed a filler task. About 12 weeks later, participants returned to the lab to complete four additional practice sessions using a similar scenario (i.e., the retention and reacquisition phase). Results The performance of participants in the AAR condition degraded more after nonuse but also recovered faster than the performance of participants in the non-AAR condition, although these effects were fairly small and not statistically significant. Conclusion Consistent with the limited research on the long-term effectiveness of AARs, our findings failed to support their effectiveness as a decay-prevention intervention. Because the present study was conducted in a laboratory setting using a relatively small sample of undergraduate students, additional research is warranted. Application Based on the results of the present study, we suggest some additional strategies that trainers might consider to support long-term skill retention when using AARs.

Age differences in false memories for visual scenes and the effect of prior recall

This study investigated age differences in false memory for visual scenes and the effect of immediate recall on subsequent recognition. Eighty children (7–9 years), 74 adolescents (14–16 years), 92 young adults (19–26 years) and 82 older adults (50–80 years) studied four visual scenes and then took a recognition test after either a free-recall task or a filler task. Results showed an age-related decline in false recognition for visual scenes, but this trend was eliminated when participants were asked to free-recall before recognition. Prior recall decreased false recognition in children, but increased false recognition in older adults. Across the lifespan, adolescents had the loosest criterion, children had the lowest false recall, and prior recall increased true recognition in older adults.

An episodic specificity interview enhances eyewitness identification under perceptual load and reduces susceptibility to misinformation

High perceptual load has previously been shown to impair eyewitness memory and to enhance susceptibility to leading questions. This study investigated the effect of an episodic specificity interview (ESI) on eyewitness memory under different levels of perceptual load. 80 participants were assigned to view either a high perceptual load or low perceptual load version of a video depicting a theft in an office. After a 5 minute filler task, participants engaged in either an ESI, which employed mental imagery to elicit specific details of the video, or a control interview that solicited general impressions of the video. Under high load, participants’ ability to identify a peripheral character in the scene from a photo line-up was impaired and they were more likely to misidentify a decoy as the target character after one week. These impairments were reduced or eliminated for participants who completed the ESI. The ESI enhanced true recall for details of the scene and reduced false memories arising from leading questions. The results have theoretical implications for perceptual load theory, and practical implications for eyewitness testimony.

Cognitive Bias Modification

Ruminative tendencies to think repetitively about negative events, like retrieval practice in laboratory experiments, should enhance long-term recall. To evaluate this claim, ruminators and nonruminators learned positive, negative, and neutral adjective–noun pairs. Following each of four study phases, “practice” participants attempted cued recall of nouns from positive or negative pairs; study-only participants performed a filler task. Half the pairs of each valence were tested after the four learning cycles, and all pairs were tested a week later. Large practice effects were found on both tests, even though ruminators showed a trait-congruent bias in recalling unpracticed negative pairs on the immediate test. Positive practice also improved the moods of ruminators. Thus, repetitive positive retrieval shows promise in counteracting ruminative recall and its consequences.

Memory for Radio Advertisements: the Effect of Program and Typicality

We examined the influence of the type of radio program on the memory for radio advertisements. We also investigated the role in memory of the typicality (high or low) of the elements of the products advertised. Participants listened to three types of programs (interesting, boring, enjoyable) with two advertisements embedded in each. After completing a filler task, the participants performed a true/false recognition test. Hits and false alarm rates were higher for the interesting and enjoyable programs than for the boring one. There were also more hits and false alarms for the high-typicality elements. The response criterion for the advertisements embedded in the boring program was stricter than for the advertisements in other types of programs. We conclude that the type of program in which an advertisement is inserted and the nature of the elements of the advertisement affect both the number of hits and false alarms and the response criterion, but not the accuracy of the memory.

Just World and the Emotional Defense of Self

This research examines how individuals with different affect regulation strategies cope with just-world threats. Our study demonstrated that individuals who poorly downregulate negative affect (a state-oriented style) more avidly attempt to defend a just world after this opportunity is offered via an authority figure when that belief of a just world was threatened than do individuals who successfully downregulate negative affect (an action-oriented style), after a filler task. Sizable differences thus exist in how individuals defend their just-world beliefs as a function of how people deal with their affective states.