De rol van geheugenfeedback op imaginatie-inflatie

The imagination inflation effect refers to the fact that imagining a fictive event from childhood may increase the subjective likelihood that the event had occurred. This has been shown in many forensic studies in which a single imagination session already resulted in pseudo-memories (e.g., garry, manning, loftus, & sherman, 1996). The literature has given hints that people suffering from memory distrust may be even more susceptible to developing pseudo-memories, and thus to the effects of imagination inflation, than people who do trust their memory (gudjonsson & mackeith, 1982). In the current study, we manipulated memory distrust in undergraduate students (n = 85) by giving them feedback on a memory task. This feedback was presented in three different ways: positive feedback, no feedback and negative feedback. Afterwards, we introduced the imagination inflation procedure to all participants. Contrary to our expectation, manipulating memory distrust did not lead to an increased imagination inflation effect. Explanations are discussed.