RUI: Guided Imagery And Memory Errors: Identifying Basic Mechanisms by Testing the Effects of Script Author and Imagery Content

研究证实，引导图像(例如，要求人们以特定的方式想象公园里的场景)可能会导致人们报告从未发生过的事件的各个方面，或者报告只在思想中体验到的整个情节。引导图像是如何导致这些记忆错误的？产生图像的行为是罪魁祸首吗？是因为图像的生动吗？或者，有没有可能图像产生的方式对于对记忆产生有害影响是至关重要的？由斯基德莫尔学院的玛丽·安·福利博士进行的一项由NSF资助的研究项目将确定引导图像可能导致成本(记忆错误)或好处(改善记忆准确性)的程度。这项研究将试图解开引导图像可能影响记忆的复杂方式。在一系列实验中，在生成了涉及合理生活事件的复杂场景的图像后，参与者将被要求记住在生成想象场景的脚本中是否明确提到了作为测试项目的细节。这些问题将通过检查脚本内容(例如，它是否与参与者相关)和意象体验的个体差异(例如，人们在日常生活中体验意象的频率)来调查。脚本作者也将是不同的(例如，实验者或单个参与者)，因为先前的研究通常依赖于实验者生成的描述来指导人们的图像体验。当人们成为引导图像的描述的自己的来源时，记忆错误很可能会减少或消除。这项研究项目具有多方面的影响。这些发现将解决关于意象对记忆影响的文献中相互矛盾的模式，完善旨在解释意象正面或负面影响的理论，并邀请研究人员以新的方式概念化关于意象和记忆的问题。新的知识还可能为教育、法律和法医实践提供信息。这项研究将有助于下一代科学家的确定和教育发展。本科生将参与调查的所有阶段，从有意义的研究活动中受益，并丰富他们在心理科学方面的教育。将特别注意吸引职业生涯早期的本科生(例如，在进行研究的校园内招收一年级学生以及附近社区大学的学生)。博士后研究员将有一个独特的机会为本科生的研究和教学做出贡献。最后，通过在校园内赞助公开讲座和小组讨论，该项目将展示将学生、科学家、其他专业人员和更广泛的社区其他成员聚集在一起所带来的协同效益。

Research confirms that guided imagery (e.g., asking people to visualize a scene in a park in a particular way) may lead people to report aspects of events that never occurred or to report entire episodes that were only experienced in thought. How does guided imagery result in these memory errors? Is the act of generating an image the culprit? Is it the vividness of the images? Or is it possible that the way in which the images are induced is crucial for producing the deleterious effects on memory? An NSF-funded research project conducted by Dr. Mary Ann Foley at Skidmore College will determine the extent to which guided imagery may result in costs (memory errors) or benefits (improved memory accuracy). The research will attempt to disentangle the complex ways in which guided imagery may affect memory. In a series of experiments, after generating images of complex scenes involving plausible life events, participants will be asked to remember whether details included as test items were explicitly mentioned in the scripts that were used to generate the imagined scenarios. These questions will be investigated by examining script content (e.g., whether or not it is relevant to the participant), and individual differences in imagery experiences (e.g., the frequency with which people experience imagery in their daily lives). The script author will also be varied (e.g., the experimenter or the individual participants), because prior research has routinely relied on experimenter-generated descriptions to guide people's imagery experiences. It may well be that memory errors will be reduced or eliminated when people are their own source of the descriptions guiding the imagery. This research project has a number of implications. The findings will speak to conflicting patterns in the literature on the effects of imagery on memory, refine theories intended to explain the positive or negative effects of imagery, and invite researchers to conceptualize questions about imagery and memory in new ways. The new knowledge may also inform educational, legal, and forensic practices. This research will contribute to the identification and educational development of the next generation of scientists. Undergraduates will be involved in all stages of the investigations, benefitting from meaningful research activities and enriching their education in the psychological sciences. Special attention will be given to attracting undergraduates early in their careers (e.g., recruiting first-year students on the campus where the research is conducted as well as students at nearby community colleges). A postdoctoral fellow will have a unique opportunity to contribute to both undergraduate research and teaching. Finally, through sponsorship of public lectures and panel discussions on campus, this project will showcase the synergistic benefits of drawing together students, scientists, other professionals, and other members of the broader community.