Imagery encoding and false recognition errors: Exploring boundary conditions of imagery's enhancing effects

Abstract

After generating images based on descriptions of object interactions, false recognition errors can be substantially reduced in the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) task. Boundary conditions for this effect were examined in three experiments by testing imagery encoding tasks against encoding tasks used previously to alter false recognition levels. False recognition errors were lowest following imagery encoding whether comparisons involved an object interaction encoding task used previously (Experiments 1 and 2) or a new version of the task (Experiment 2). In addition reductions in false recognition errors were observed in a new imagery-encoding task (Experiment 3). Generating descriptions had differential effects on “remember” responses to falsely recognised items (Experiment 2). In combination with content analyses on participants' descriptions, these findings speak to alternative explanations for the effects of imagery encoding on false recognition errors. The findings also have implications for the use of DRM results in developing recommendations regarding the use of guided imagery in applied contexts.