Porter S, Yuille J C, Lehman D R
Department of Psychology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Law Hum Behav. 1999 Oct;23(5):517-37. doi: 10.1023/a:1022344128649.
A central issue in the recovered memory debate is whether it is possible to "remember" a highly emotional incident which never occurred. The present study provided an in-depth investigation of real, implanted, and fabricated (deceptive) memories for stressful childhood events. We examined whether false memories for emotional events could be implanted and, if so, whether real, implanted, and fabricated memories had distinctive features. A questionnaire was sent to participants' parents asking about six highly emotional, stressful events (e.g., serious animal attack) which the participant may have experienced in childhood. Next, across three sessions, interviewers encouraged participants (N = 77) to "recover" a memory for a false event using guided imagery and repeated retrieval attempts. In the first interview, they were asked about one real and one false event, both introduced as true according to their parents. In two subsequent interviews, they were reinterviewed about the false event. Finally, after the third inquiry about the false event, participants were asked to fabricate a memory report. Results indicated that 26% of participants "recovered" a complete memory for the false experience and another 30% recalled aspects of the false experience. Real, implanted, and fabricated memories differed on several dimensions (e.g., confidence, vividness, details, repeated details, coherence, stress). These findings have important implications for the debate over recovered and false memories.
记忆恢复争议中的一个核心问题是，是否有可能“记起”一件从未发生过的高度情绪化事件。本研究对童年压力事件的真实、植入和编造（欺骗性）记忆进行了深入调查。我们研究了情绪化事件的虚假记忆是否可以被植入，如果可以，真实、植入和编造的记忆是否具有独特特征。向参与者的父母发送了一份问卷，询问他们孩子在童年时期可能经历过的六件高度情绪化、有压力的事件（例如，严重的动物袭击）。接下来，在三个阶段中，访谈者鼓励参与者（N = 77）使用引导式意象和反复回忆尝试来“恢复”对一个虚假事件的记忆。在第一次访谈中，他们被问及一件真实事件和一件虚假事件，两件事均根据其父母的说法被当作真实事件介绍。在随后的两次访谈中，他们被再次问及虚假事件。最后，在第三次询问虚假事件之后，要求参与者编造一份记忆报告。结果表明，26%的参与者“恢复”了对虚假经历的完整记忆，另有30%的人回忆起了虚假经历的一些方面。真实、植入和编造的记忆在几个维度上有所不同（例如，信心、生动程度、细节、重复细节、连贯性、压力）。这些发现对关于记忆恢复和虚假记忆的争论具有重要意义。
