Print

False memories: Romanian Deese-Roediger-McDermott lists of words

Written by Andreea Horoiță, Adrian Opre on . Posted in Volume XXIV, Nr 2

Authors

Andreea Horoiță, Adrian Opre*

Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Babeș-Bolyai University, Romania

Abstract

Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm represents a powerful experimental approach to investigate the development of false memories. In the present manuscript, the main purpose was to generate and validate 24 Romanian lists of words, out of which 18 present emotional valence, in order to use them in DRM paradigm experiments for Romanian population. In this regard, we conducted an experiment (N = 197) with two main purposes, divided in two Studies: Study 1 aimed to validate and compare two sets of semantically associated lists of words: set A including 12 Romanian lists created by association and frequency, versus set B comprising 12 lists translated from the original normed English DRM lists to Romanian language. Study 2 aimed to validate and compare Romanian DRM lists with emotional valence, for both sets of lists. The critical lures were the same for both sets of lists, A and B. Results showed a high level of false memories from both sets of lists A and B, for false recall (up to 16%) and false recognition (up to 54%) of the critical lure. There were no significant statistical differences between the two sets of lists. Romanian DRM lists with emotional valence presented the same pattern of results, with no statistical differences between the two sets of lists. In conclusion, the 24 final lists of Romanian DRM words, 18 with emotional valence (neutral, negative, and positive), meet all the standard criteria for further use in scientific research concerning false memories and DRM paradigm. Implications for further scientific research and applications are discussed.

Keywords: false memories, DRM paradigm, emotional false memories, Romanian DRM lists

PAGES:163-186

doi:10.24193/cbb.2020.24.10

* Corresponding authors:
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.