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Are Young Children Susceptible to the False–Memory Illusion?
Author(s) -
Brainerd C.J.,
Reyna V.F.,
Forrest T.J.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8624.00477
Subject(s) - illusion , psychology , false memory , counterintuitive , developmental psychology , late childhood , early childhood , cognitive psychology , young adult , memory development , cognitive development , cognition , recall , neuroscience , philosophy , epistemology
False memories have typically been found to be more common during early childhood than during later childhood or adulthood. However, fuzzy–trace theory makes the counterintuitive prediction that some powerful forms of adult false memory will be greatly attenuated in early childhood, an important example being the Deese/Roediger/McDermott (DRM) illusion. Three developmental studies of this illusion ( N =282) found that (1) it was at near–floor levels in young children, (2) it was still below adult levels by early adolescence, and (3) the low levels of the illusion in young children may be due to failure to “get the gist” of DRM materials.