Retrieval-Induced Forgetting in the Feigning Amnesia for a Crime Paradigm

Previous studies demonstrated that, when asked to honestly provide information about a mock crime, former feigners performed worse than those who were requested to confess to this event. Thus, feigning amnesia for a mock crime undermined genuine memory for the same experience. In the present study,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Frontiers in psychology 2019-04, Vol.10, p.928-928
Main Authors: Mangiulli, Ivan, van Oorsouw, Kim, Curci, Antonietta, Jelicic, Marko
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
feigning amnesia
inhibition
malingering
memory errors
Psychology
retrieval-induced forgetting
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Summary:Previous studies demonstrated that, when asked to honestly provide information about a mock crime, former feigners performed worse than those who were requested to confess to this event. Thus, feigning amnesia for a mock crime undermined genuine memory for the same experience. In the present study, we examined whether retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) underlies this memory-undermining effect. After watching a mock crime, participants had to feign amnesia or confess to having committed that crime. Feigners were given retrieval practice instructions (i.e., retrieval-practice group) or no further instructions (i.e., control group). Immediately and 1 day later, all participants had to genuinely report what they remembered about the crime. Although simulators in the retrieval-practice group recalled the largest amount of information as a positive consequence of retrieval, the ratio for crucial crime-related details was lower than that exhibited by both simulators who were given no instructions and confessors. These findings suggest that RIF might play a role in forgetting critical information in claims of crime-related amnesia. Theoretical and practical implications will be discussed.
ISSN:1664-1078
1664-1078
DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00928