Thinking of Critical Words During Study Is Unnecessary for False Memory in the Deese, Roediger, and McDermott Procedure

Do participants in the Deese, Roediger, and McDermott (DRM) procedure demonstrate false memory because they think of nonpresented critical words during study and confuse them with words that were actually presented? In two experiments, 160 participants studied eight visually presented DRM lists at a rate of 2 s or 5 s per word. Half of the participants rehearsed silently; the other half rehearsed overtly. Following study, the participants' memory for the lists was tested by recall or recognition. Typical false memory results were obtained for both memory measures. More important, two new results were observed. First, a large majority of the overt-rehearsal participants spontaneously rehearsed approximately half of the critical words during study. Second, critical-word rehearsal at study enhanced subsequent false recall, but it had no effect on false recognition or remember judgments for falsely recognized critical words. Thinking of critical words during study was unnecessary for producing false memory.

Effects of Overt and Silent Study on Recall of Visual Information by Head-Injured Patients

A 2 × 2 factorial design was used to examine the immediate recall of traumatic head-injured and hospitalized controls under two conditions of study. Subjects recalled details from pictures that were either examined silently (silent study) or by naming details aloud (overt rehearsal). Analysis showed a significant interaction for type of study by type of subject, with head-injured subjects recalling more details using overt rehearsal while hospitalized controls recalled more using silent study. A main effect showing greater immediate recall for control subjects was also present. Results are discussed with regard to compensatory strategies for memory enhancement of brain-injured individuals.