Doctoral Dissertation Research: Strategic Use of Event Memorability in the Rejection of False Events

这个项目考察了错误记忆，也就是为什么人们会记住没有发生的事件。特别是，这项研究将调查儿童和成人由于策略性地使用事件记忆性而拒绝虚假事件发生的情况。以前有人建议，个人对事件记忆性的评估是启发式地用作关于事件是否发生的决策的基础。这种启发式策略被称为“元认知策略”。该项目的目标是考察儿童和成人使用启发式事件记忆性的条件，即使用元认知策略拒绝虚假事件。具体地说，本研究试图回答以下问题：1)记忆和非记忆项目的正确拒绝率是否存在发展差异，如果存在，年龄差异对理解元认知策略的使用有何影响？2)编码和提取条件如何影响对可记忆和非记忆事件的拒绝？3)在拒绝虚假自传事件时，能否检测到记忆启发式的使用？这些发现将具有理论上的相关性，因为它们将阐明拒绝虚假事件的策略。这将使法律系统了解证人在哪些情况下不太可能制造虚假记忆，防止不准确的证词和司法不公。

This project examines false memory, that is, why one remembers events that have not occurred. In particular, the study will investigate the conditions under which children and adults reject the occurrence of false events due to a strategic use of event memorability. It has previously been suggested that individuals' evaluations of event memorability are used heuristically as a basis for decision making about whether events occurred. This heuristic is termed the "metacognitive strategy." The objective of the project is to examine the conditions under which children and adults utilize event memorability heuristically, that is use the metacognitive strategy, to reject false events. Specifically, the proposed research attempts to answer the following questions: 1) Do developmental differences exist in the rate of correct rejection of memorable and non-memorable items, and, if so, what are the implications of age differences for understanding metacognitive strategy utilization? 2) How do encoding and retrieval conditions affect rejection of memorable versus non-memorable events? 3) Can the use of the memorability heuristic be detected in the rejection of false autobiographical events? The findings will have theoretical relevance because they will shed light on strategies used to reject false events. This will inform the legal system about conditions under which witnesses are less likely to create false memories, preventing inaccurate testimony and miscarriage of justice.