Feelings of contrast at test reduce false memory in the Deese/Roediger-McDermott paradigm

False memories in the Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm are explained
in terms of the interplay between error-inflating and error-editing (e.g., monitoring)
mechanisms. In this study, we focused on disqualifying monitoring, a decision process
that helps to reject false memories through the recollection of collateral information
(i.e., recall-to-reject strategies). Participants engage in recall-to-reject strategies using
one or two metacognitive processes: (1) applying the logic of mutual exclusivity or
(2) experiencing feelings of contrast between studied items and unstudied lures. We
aimed to provide, for the first time in the DRM literature, evidence favorable to the
existence of a recall-to-reject strategy based on the experience of feelings of contrast.
One hundred and forty participants studied six-word DRM lists (e.g., spy, hell, fist,
fight, abduction, mortal), simultaneously associated with three critical lures (e.g., WAR,
BAD, FEAR). Lists differed in their ease to identify their critical lures (extremely low-BAS
lists vs. high-BAS lists). At recognition test, participants saw either one or the three
critical lures of the lists. Participants in the three-critical-lure condition were expected to
increase their monitoring, as they would experience stronger feelings of contrast than
the participants in the one-critical-lure condition. Results supported our hypothesis,
showing lower false recognition in the three-critical-lure condition than in the one critical-lure condition. Critically, in the three-critical-lure condition, participants reduced
even more false memory when they could also resort to another monitoring strategy
(i.e., identify-to-reject). These findings suggest that, in the DRM context, disqualifying
monitoring could be guided by experiencing feelings of contrast between different types
of words.
This work was partially supported by grant SA052G18, Junta de Castilla y Leon, by the University of Salamanca (Spain), and by Support scholarships for doctoral students (Becas de apoyo para estudiantes doctorales) from the Universidad del Rosario (Colombia).