False memory and aging: an event-related potential study

Abstract

The DRM paradigm is used to examine false memory—when a list of highly associated words (e.g. SEWING, THREAD, THIMBLE) is studied, a nonpresented but associated false target (e.g. NEEDLE) is often confidently (but incorrectly) identified as having been studied. An ERP study was conducted with a sample of young and older adults to examine age differences in false memory and neurological distinctions between true and false recognition. DRM words were presented in a lateralized fashion, with the prediction that a contralateral sensory signature would be present for true but not false memories. ERP data was largely inconclusive, but does suggest that processing during the DRM paradigm may largely be carried out in the left hemisphere.