Previous research shows that manipulations (e.g. levels-of-processing) that facilitate true memory often increase susceptibility to false memory. An exception is the generation effect. Using the Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm, Soraci et al. found that generating rather than reading list items led to an increase in true but not false memories. They argued that generation led to enhanced item-distinctiveness that drove down false memory production. In the current study, we investigated the effects of generative processing on valenced stimuli and after a delayed retention interval to examine factors that may lead to a generation effect that increases false memories. At the immediate test, false recognition rates for both negative and neutral valanced critical lures were similar across read and generate conditions. However, after a one-week delay, we saw a valence differentiation, with a generation effect for false recognition but only for negative stimuli. The roles of item-specific and relational processing during encoding and their interaction with long-term retention are discussed.

Previous research has shown that with reduced attention at encoding, false recognition of critical lures for negative arousing DRM lists were higher than positive arousing lists. The current study extends this research to examine the role of attention for both arousing and non-arousing valenced false memory formation. Further, due to contradictory findings in past research, we examined attention at encoding using both within (Experiment 1) and between (Experiment 2) participants design. Participants were exposed to high and low arousing, valenced DRM lists under full and reduced attention conditions. Experiment 1 revealed that only negative arousing false memories were not affected by reduced attention at study, all other false memories decreased. In Experiment 2, although recognition of negative high arousing critical lures was higher, false memories increased in the reduced attention condition for all list types. Differences in attention during encoding affect the retrieval of emotional stimuli dependent on arousal and valence, however, our decision strategies can override the impact of this when it comes to retrieval.

It is no secret that memory is fallible. In both laboratory and everyday experiences we see errors of omission and commission, with the latter being particularly worrisome inasmuch as they can give rise to memory illusions about events that never occurred. Such memory errors are routinely studied using the Deese-RoedigerMcDermott (DRM) paradigm (Deese, 1959; Roediger & McDermott, 1995) where participants are presented with a list of associated words (e.g., nap , dream , pillow ) that are all linked to a nonpresented but related concept or critical lure (e.g., sleep ). When participants subsequently complete recall and recognition tests they often incorrectly identify the nonpresented critical lure as having been present in the previously studied list (see Gallo, 2010; Brainerd, Reyna, & Zember, 2011). Moreover, normally, younger children (e.g., 5-and 7-year-olds) exhibit fewer false memories than older children (e.g., 11-year-olds) and adults (e.g., see Howe, Wimmer, Gagnon, & Plumpton, 2009; but see Otgaar, Howe, Peters, Smeets, & Moritz, 2014; Otgaar, Howe, Brackmann, & Wang, this volume). Often these memory illusions are seen as a negative byproduct of the reconstructive processes inherent in memory. These negative byproducts are not restricted to the recollection of critical lures, but also include falsely remembering parts of events or entire events that never occurred. In extreme cases, false memories can have serious personal consequences, ones that can lead to the imprisonment of innocent people (e.g., Howe, 2013).

Recent research has shown that memory illusions can successfully prime both children's and adults' performance on complex, insight-based problems (compound remote associates tasks or CRATs). The current research aimed to clarify the locus of these priming effects. Like before, Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) lists were selected to prime subsequent CRATs such that the critical lures were also the solution words to a subset of the CRATs participants attempted to solve. Unique to the present research, recognition memory tests were used and participants were either primed during the list study phase, during the memory test phase, or both. Across two experiments, primed problems were solved more frequently and significantly faster than unprimed problems. Moreover, when participants were primed during the list study phase, subsequent solution times and rates were considerably superior to those produced by those participants who were simply primed at test. Together, these are the first results to show that false-memory priming during encoding facilitates problem-solving in both children and adults.

False memories have a tendency to persist over time, while true memories decline. Research has also shown that: (1) false memories generated using the Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM; 1995) paradigm are more effective than true memories at priming insight-based problem solutions (compound remote associates task or CRAT) following a one-week delay; and (2) when valence is manipulated, false-negative memory rates increase over a delay interval. The current study examined the efficacy of true and false memory primes for positive and negative DRM lists on a set of CRATs. Two hundred and seventy participants studied either positive- or negative-themed DRM lists whose critical lures were also the solutions later CRATs that they attempted to solve either immediately or one week later. The critical lures were either generated by the participants (false memory) or included as part of the list (true memory). We found that false-negative memories were more effective problem-solving primes than true or positive memories particularly following a one-week delay.

The effects of embedding standard Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM) lists into stories whose context biased interpretation either toward or away from the overall themes of the DRM lists on both true and false recognition were investigated with 7- and 11-year-olds. These biased story contexts were compared with the same children's susceptibility to false memory illusions using the standard DRM list presentation paradigm. The results showed the usual age effects for true and false memories in the standard DRM list paradigm, where 11-year-olds exhibited higher rates of both true and false recognition compared with the 7-year-olds. Importantly, when DRM lists were embedded in stories, these age effects disappeared for true recognition. For false recognition, although developmental differences were attenuated, older children were still more susceptible to false memory illusions than younger children. These findings are discussed in terms of current theories of children's false memories as well as the role of themes and elaboration in children's memory development.