Browsing by Author "Sim, Rachael"

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    False memories and ageing : source-monitoring interventions reduce false recognition in both younger and older adults : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Clinical Psychology at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2015) Sim, Rachael
    The purpose of the current research was to examine age-related differences in false recognition and attempt to establish whether these differences were best explained by the fuzzy-trace theory, source-monitoring processes (as part of the activation-monitoring theory), or sensitivity and/or criterion differences in signal detection ability. Eighty participants (40 younger adults, 16-30 years old, and 40 older adults, 75-80 years old) were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions. Twenty participants from each age group completed one of two versions of the Deese (1959) Roediger and McDermott (1995) false recognition task (DRM). The standard version required a simple old/new recognition judgement, while the source-monitoring version also required a source judgement. The results showed that older adults were sometimes, but not always, more prone to making false recognition errors compared to younger adults. Requiring source judgements decreased false recognition in both younger and older adults to a similar extent. Signal detection analyses showed that older adults were less sensitive than younger adults, and those in the source-monitoring condition were more conservative than those in the standard condition when making decisions about whether items were old. These and other results are discussed in terms of their implications and applications to real life false memories. As expected the results did not favour one theoretical perspective over another. Most of the results can be adequately explained by both the fuzzy-trace and activation-monitoring theory, although source-monitoring processes provided a simpler explanation of the research findings than fuzzy-trace theory or an appeal to bias and/or sensitivity differences.
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    Memory mistakes and ageing : how susceptibility to false recognition and the illusory truth effect changes across the lifespan : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2010) Sim, Rachael
    The purpose of the current research was to investigate if there was a common susceptibility to false memories and the illusory truth effect, and how performance in these two tasks varied with age. False memories were investigated using the Deese (1959) Roediger and McDermott (1995) (DRM) recognition paradigm, and the illusory truth effect was examined by asking participants to read and rate a set of statements labelled as true or false, and then soon after rate the truth of a subset of the previously presented statements amongst a set of new statements. The study followed a quasi-experimental, within/between-subjects design. The participants were 161 individuals aged from 16 to 92 years old. The sample was divided into three similar-sized age groups: young (16-39), middle (40-60), and old (61+). It was hypothesised that there would be a common susceptibility to DRM false memories and the illusory truth effect, and that older adults would perform more poorly than the young and middle age groups on the two tasks, and that the middle age group would perform more poorly on the two tasks than the young group. The results showed that only the old group demonstrated a common susceptibility to the two tasks. Unexpectedly, there were no age-related differences in the DRM false recognition task. However, in the illusory truth effect task the older groups’ performance was poorer compared to the younger two groups, but performance did not differ between the young and middle age groups. These results (along with others) are discussed in relation to the mechanisms believed to underpin performance in the two tasks.