"Remembering" words not presented in lists: relevance to the current recovered/false memory controversy

Abstract

H.L. Roediger and K.B. McDermott (1995) found that when participants studied a list of words with a common but not presented associate, participants frequently falsely reported remembering the never presented associated word as part of the list. Roediger and McDermott suggest that this finding is generalizable to the current controversy surrounding contested memories of child abuse. The present authors urge caution in making such a generalization, arguing that there are critical differences between Roediger and McDermott's findings and contested memories of abuse.