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Cognitive psychology of human memory (CogMemo thesaurus)

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Concept information

disposition > cognition > memory > false memory

Preferred term

false memory  

Definition

  • A broader term for an erroneous memory that a person holds to be true. A false memory can occur in two ways: either a false memory of an entire event that never happened, or a false memory that is a modification of a past event.

Broader concept

Narrower concepts

Related concepts

Synonym(s)

  • false remembering
  • memory distortion
  • memory error
  • memory illusion
  • misremembering

Belongs to group

Bibliographic citation(s)

  • • Belli, R. F. (Éd.). (2011). True and false recovered memories : Toward a reconciliation of the debate. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-1195-6

    • Document type: literature review

    • Access: closed

  • • Bernstein, D., Scoboria, A., Desjarlais, L., & Soucie, K. (2018). “False memory” is a linguistic convenience. Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice, 5(2), 161–179. https://doi.org/10.1037/cns0000148

    • Document type: empirical study

    • Access: closed

  • • Brainerd, C. J., Bialer, D. M., & Chang, M. (2022). Fuzzy-trace theory and false memory : Meta-analysis of conjoint recognition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 48, 1680‑1697. https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0001040

    • Document type: meta-analysis

    • Access: closed

  • • Brainerd, C. J., & Reyna, V. F. (2005). The science of false memory. Oxford University Press.

    • Document type: literature review

    • Access: closed

  • • Corson, Y., & Verrier, N. (2013). Les faux souvenirs. De Boeck.

    • Document type: literature review

    • Access: closed

  • • de Rivera, J. (2000). Understanding persons who repudiate memories recovered in therapy. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 31(4), 378–386. https://doi.org/10.1037/0735-7028.31.4.378

    • Document type: empirical study

    • Access: closed

  • • El Haj, M., Colombel, F., Kapogiannis, D., & Gallouj, K. (2020). False memory in Alzheimer’s disease. Behavioural Neurology, 2020, e5284504. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/5284504

    • Document type: literature review

    • Access: open

  • • Flowe, H. D., & Schreiber Compo, N. (2021). The lack of robust evidence for the effects of alcohol on false memory. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 127, 332–333. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.04.029

    • Document type: literature review

    • Access: closed

  • • Griego, A. W., Datzman, J. N., Estrada, S. M., & Middlebrook, S. S. (2019). Suggestibility and false memories in relation to intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder: A meta‐analytic review. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 63(12), 1464–1474. https://doi.org/10.1111/jir.12668

    • Document type: literature review

    • Access: free

  • • Huff, M. J., Bodner, G. E., & Fawcett, J. M. (2015). Effects of distinctive encoding on correct and false memory: A meta-analytic review of costs and benefits and their origins in the DRM paradigm. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 22(2), 349‑365. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-014-0648-8

    • Document type: meta-analysis

    • Access: open

  • • Kaplan, R. L., Van Damme, I., Levine, L. J., & Loftus, E. F. (2016). Emotion and false memory. Emotion Review, 8(1), 8–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073915601228

    • Document type: literature review

    • Access: closed

  • • Kurkela, K. A., & Dennis, N. A. (2016). Event-related fMRI studies of false memory: An Activation Likelihood Estimation meta-analysis. Neuropsychologia, 81, 149–167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.12.006

    • Document type: meta-analysis

    • Access: closed

  • • Mazerolle, M., Smith, A. M., Torrance, M., & Thomas, A. K. (2021). Understanding older adults’ memory distortion in the light of stereotype threat. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 628696. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.628696

    • Document type: literature review

    • Access: open

  • • McLachlan, E., Rai, S., Al-Shihabi, A., Huntley, J., Burgess, N., Howard, R., & Reeves, S. (2020). Neuroimaging correlates of false memory in ’Alzheimer’s disease: A preliminary systematic review. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 296, 111021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pscychresns.2019.111021

    • Document type: literature review

    • Access: closed

  • • Millin, P. M., & Riccio, D. C. (2019). False memory in nonhuman animals. Learning & Memory, 26(10), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1101/lm.050054.119

    • Document type: literature review

    • Access: free

  • • Muschalla, B., & Schönborn, F. (2021). Induction of false beliefs and false memories in laboratory studies – A systematic review. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 28(5), 1194-1209. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.2567

    • Document type: literature review

    • Access: open

  • • Nash, R. A., & Ost, J. (Eds.). (2017). False and distorted memories. Psychology Press.

    • Document type: literature review

    • Access: closed

  • • Newbury, C. R., & Monaghan, P. (2019). When does sleep affect veridical and false memory consolidation? A meta-analysis. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 26(2), 387–400. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-018-1528-4

    • Document type: meta-analysis

    • Access: open

  • • Otgaar, H., Howe, M. L., Muris, P., & Merckelbach, H. (2019). Dealing with false memories in children and adults: Recommendations for the legal arena. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 6(1), 87–93. https://doi.org/10.1177/2372732218818584

    • Document type: literature review

    • Access: free

  • • Otgaar, H., Howe, M. L., & Patihis, L. (2022). What science tells us about false and repressed memories. Memory, 30(1), 16–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2020.1870699

    • Document type: literature review

    • Access: open

  • • Otgaar, H., Mangiulli, I., Li, C., Jelicic, M., & Muris, P. (2025). The recovery and retraction of memories of abuse: A scoping review. Frontiers in Psychology, 16. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1498258

    • Document type: literature review

    • Access: open

  • • Patihis, L., Frenda, S. J., & Loftus, E. F. (2018). False memory tasks do not reliably predict other false memories. Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice, 5(2), 140–160. https://doi.org/10.1037/cns0000147

    • Document type: empirical study

    • Access: closed

  • • Pérez-Mata, N., & Diges, M. (2024). False memories in forensic psychology : Do cognition and brain activity tell the same story? Frontiers in Psychology, 15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1327196

    • Document type: literature review

    • Access: open

  • • Wachendörfer, M. M., & Oeberst, A. (2023). Differences between true and false autobiographical memories. European Psychologist, 28(4), 247–264. https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040/a000513

    • Document type: literature review

    • Access: open

  • • Yu, J., Tao, Q., Zhang, R., Chan, C. C. H., & Lee, T. M. C. (2019). Can fMRI discriminate between deception and false memory? A meta-analytic comparison between deception and false memory studies. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 104, 43–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.06.027

    • Document type: meta-analysis

    • Access: open

Creator

  • Frank Arnould

Has model(s)

Has study method(s)

Has theory(ies)

In other languages

  • faux souvenir

    French

  • distorsion de la mémoire
  • distorsion mnésique
  • erreur de la mémoire
  • erreur mnésique
  • illusion de la mémoire
  • illusion mnésique
  • pseudo-mémoire
  • pseudo-souvenir

URI

http://data.loterre.fr/ark:/67375/P66-JQ343CBV-S

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