True and false memory for colour names versus actual colours: Support for the visual distinctiveness heuristic in memory for colour information

In a colour variation of the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) false memory paradigm, participants studied lists of words critically related to a nonstudied colour name (e.g., "blood, cherry, scarlet, rouge ... "); they later showed false memory for the critical colour name (e.g., "red&q...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006) 2010-06, Vol.63 (6), p.1104-1126
Main Authors: Eslick, Andrea N., Kostic, Bogdan, Cleary, Anne M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Color Perception
Colour imagery
Discrimination (Psychology)
DRM
False memory
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Human
Humans
Learning. Memory
Memory
Prunus
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Visual Distinctiveness
Visual Perception
Vocabulary
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Summary:In a colour variation of the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) false memory paradigm, participants studied lists of words critically related to a nonstudied colour name (e.g., "blood, cherry, scarlet, rouge ... "); they later showed false memory for the critical colour name (e.g., "red"). Two additional experiments suggest that participants generate colour imagery in response to such colour-related DRM lists. First, participants claim to experience colour imagery more often following colour-related than standard non-colour-related DRM lists; they also rate their colour imagery as more vivid following colour-related lists. Second, participants exhibit facilitative priming for critical colours in a dot selection task that follows words in the colour-related DRM list, suggesting that colour-related DRM lists prime participants for the actual critical colours themselves. Despite these findings, false memory for critical colour names does not extend to the actual colours themselves (font colours). Rather than leading to source confusion about which colours were self-generated and which were studied, presenting the study lists in varied font colours actually worked to reduce false memory overall. Results are interpreted within the framework of the visual distinctiveness hypothesis.
ISSN:1747-0218
1747-0226
DOI:10.1080/17470210903378537