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

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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.