Moodality And False Memory Research

Our experiment examined how modality and word type could affect false recall in a word list paradigm. Manipulating modality (auditory and visual presentation) and word type (concrete and abstract) has never been studied in relation to false recall. We predicted that the word lists that were presented aurally and/or contained concrete terms would show higher rates of false recall for the critical lure words. Approximately, 24 undergraduate students took part in the study. The participants were presented with 12 word lists that were associated with 6 concrete lures, and 6 abstract lures. The 12 word lists were separated equally into two blocks with varied modality. Participants would review the lists in each block, and complete a free recall …show more content…
This question gains its importance from the view that nearly every aspect of our cognition depends on our memories to some degree; especially our working memory (Baddeley, 1992). To understand many of our cognitive processes (problem solving, cognition, attention, etc.) one needs to understand the abilities and limits of memory. This information also translates into practical reasons as well. We rely on our memories to make judgements on significant events ranging from eyewitness testimony, to winning an argument with our significant other over who said what. All in all, memory accuracy is critical in our daily lives. Research on false memory can be crucial to our theories on cognition as well as developing tools to improve accurate memory recall in our daily …show more content…
In their experiment, participants heard lists of words that were highly associated to non-presented (lures) concrete, abstract, and emotion words. The critical words were selected to reflect profiles created in an experiment performed by Altarriba, Bauer, and Benvenuto (1999), in which participants were asked to rate words according to concreteness, context availability, and imageability. Words categorized as abstract, concrete, and emotion were all rated differently by participants on all three dimensions. These rating profiles were utilized in the study conducted Bauer et al. (2009) to create appropriate lure words for each dimension. Participants completed a free recall task for all 24 associated word lists (8 lists for each word type). Their research showed a significantly higher rate of false recall for the emotion word lures, followed by concrete word lures, and lastly abstract word lures. Their research suggests that the word type variable may affect our understanding of what contributes to false recall, as well as what factors may increase or impede false