Source Misattributions May Increase the Accuracy of Source Judgments
Memory & Cognition 2007, 35 (5), 1024-1033 Source misattributions may increase the accuracy of source judgments KEITH B. LYLE University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky AND MARCIA K. JOHNSON Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut Misattribution of remembered information from one source to another is commonly associated with false memories, but we demonstrate that it also may underlie memories that accord with past events. Participants imagined drawings of objects in four different locations. For each, a drawing of a similarly shaped object was seen in the same location, a different location, or not seen. When tested on memory for objects’ origin (seen/ imagined) and location, more false “seen” responses, but also more correct location responses, were given to imagined objects if a similar object had been seen, versus not seen, in the same location. We argue that misat- tribution of feature information (e.g., shape, location) from seen objects to similar imagined ones increased false memories of seeing objects but also increased correct location memories, provided the misattributed location matched the imagined objects’ location. Thus, consistent with the source-monitoring framework, imperfect source-attribution processes underlie false and true memories. The idea that remembered information from one source Geraci & Franklin, 2004; Henkel & Franklin, 1998). This may be mistakenly attributed to a different source (i.e., increase in false memory for having seen the drawings is source misattribution) has proven useful in explaining thought to be due to the misattribution of perceived fea- a variety of false memory phenomena (Johnson, Hash- ture information from seen objects to similar imagined troudi, & Lindsay, 1993; Mitchell & Johnson, 2000).
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