Name: the deese-roediger-mcdermott (drm) task: a simple cognitive paradigm to investigate false memories in the laboratory
Uploaded: 2017-01-31T13:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about The Deese-Roediger-McDermott DRM Task: A Simple Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate False Memories in the Laboratory at JoVE.com

The authors thank all members of the Sleep, Stress, and Memory Lab for their help in data collection, particularly Stephen M. Mattingly for proofreading the final manuscript.

The Institutional Review Board of the University of Notre Dame approved all of the procedures, including use of human subjects, discussed here. The preparation and the administration of the DRM task materials described below were used in a published study28, in which the effects of psychosocial stress following DRM word list encoding were assessed 24 h later.
1. Preparation of DRM Task
<ol>
	<li>Use the word lists from Stadler, Roediger, and McDermott<sup class="xref"...

In this report, the authors described a highly used cognitive task that reliably produces gist-based false memories in human subjects. It is important to note that, in the current report, the DRM task was presented in one of its simplest forms, very similar to the original protocol used by Deese1 and Roediger and McDermott2. The similarity with the original protocol used in the experiments described here has one particular exception: a long delay (24, 48 h) between encoding...

An erratum was issued for: <a href="http://www.jove.com/video/54793">The Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) Task: A Simple Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate False Memories in the Laboratory</a>.&#160; Additional references have been added to the References section.

An erratum was issued for: <a href="http://www.jove.com/video/54793">The Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) Task: A Simple Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate False Memories in the Laboratory</a>. Additional references have been added to the References section.

Erratum: The Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) Task: A Simple Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate False Memories in the Laboratory

The Deese,&#160;Roediger and McDermott (DRM) task was initially created by Deese1, and later revitalized by Roediger and McDermott2 as a convenient means of studying false memory in the laboratory. Although some3,4 argue it should be called the DRMRS task, for the contributions of Read5 and Solso6, the most common name in the literature is the DRM task, and we call it by that name here. After a seminal paper published by Roediger and McDermott2, interest of false memory research skyrocketed (see7), resulting in over 2,800 citations of that article to date. According to Roediger and McDermott, they revived the experimental design created by Deese because there was no reliable laboratory paradigm to induce false recall, while evidence of false recognition (e.g.,8,9) did &#34;little to discourage the belief that more natural, coherent materials are needed to demonstrate powerful false memory effects&#34;2.
One such example of a &#34;more natural&#34; paradigm is the misinformation paradigm10,11. In this task, subjects are presented with a story through pictures, slides, or video. Later, misleading information is provided, and the question is whether subjects will incorporate this misleading information into their recollection of the story. The DRM task is simpler than the misinformation paradigm in several respects. DRM encoding requires only the quick presentation and learning of lists of words, either visually or aurally. Retrieval testing for the DRM task is equally convenient regardless of the particular method used. In a recognition test participants are presented with a subset of the encoded words, the critical lure words (e.g., &#39;doctor&#39;), and unrelated lure words and have to make simple judgments of whether they remember each word or not, whereas in a recall test, participants have to write down all the words they are able to remember. In contrast, free recall testing for the misinformation paradigm is impractical, as it requires time-consuming content analysis. Additionally, the DRM task does not require any manipulation between encoding and testing, as DRM &#39;false memories&#39; are spontaneously self-generated. The misinformation errors, on the other hand, are induced via external suggestions. Although both the DRM and misinformation paradigms are argued to assess false memory, newer studies have found small (r = 0.12)12 or no relationship13,14 between the misinformation and the DRM effects, suggesting that different mechanisms may be at play for each type of false memory. Moreover, the DRM illusions are argued to be a byproduct of the constructive nature of memory15, which can be considered an evolutionarily adaptive process16.
The DRM false memory effect is highly robust across studies (for quantitative reviews see 17,18), and there is considerable evidence that the DRM task is quite reliable19 (but see20). The DRM false memory effect has been found using various delay intervals, including those as short as an immediate test, and those delaying memory testing until 60 days later21,22,23 (but see 24). Warning subjects of the DRM illusion reduces, but does not erase, the effect 14,25. The DRM effect has also been found with different encoding strategies, such as changes in word presentation duration26, and can be increased by several post-encoding manipulations, such as sleep27 or stress28.
Moreover, the DRM task has been utilized by many laboratories to study false memory formation in a variety of subject populations, such as children29,30,31,32 and older adults33, and in a variety of research fields, including individual cognitive (e.g., working memory20,34) and personality differences35, neuroimaging36,37, and neuropsychology38. In spite of its popularity, however, many have argued against the generalizability of the DRM task, and whether the creation of DRM false memories is comparable to the naturalistic creation of false autobiographical memories outside of the laboratory, such as memories of child abuse recovered in psychotherapy39,40,41. Nonetheless, several studies have found that subjects that are more susceptible to DRM false memories are also more prone to autobiographical memory distortions42, fantastic autobiographical memories (alien abductions43; past lives44), and recovered autobiographical memories45.
In short, the DRM task has been a useful tool to investigate the neurocognitive underpinnings of the (re)constructive nature of memory15,16, regardless of the ongoing debate about how appropriate and relevant it is in the study of autobiographical false memories7. In the current report, the DRM task procedures are explained in their simplest form, with a focus on targeting memory consolidation processes (i.e.&#160;experimental manipulations, such as sleep and stress, occur after encoding has finished and are thus used as tools to evaluate consolidation), as this has been the focus in our laboratory. The authors refer the reader to Gallo (2013)46 for an excellent review of the DRM task, along with the different variations on encoding and testing procedures.

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="905">
	<tbody>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:247px;">Computer</td>
			<td style="width:275px;"></td>
			<td style="width:192px;"></td>
			<td style="width:191px;">No particular brand/type required.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:247px;">Headphones</td>
			<td style="width:275px;"></td>
			<td style="width:192px;"></td>
			<td>No particular brand/type required.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;">RODE NT1-A 1&#34; cardioid condenser microphone</td>
			<td style="width:275px;">Rode</td>
			<td style="width:192px;">http://www.rode.com/microphones/nt1-a</td>
			<td>recording equipment used to record the wordlists</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:247px;">Audacity</td>
			<td style="width:275px;">Audacity</td>
			<td style="width:192px;">http://www.audacityteam.org/</td>
			<td>for editing the recording of the wordlists</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:247px;">E-Prime&#160;</td>
			<td style="width:275px;">Psychology Software Tools, Inc.</td>
			<td style="width:192px;">https://www.pstnet.com/eprime.cfm</td>
			<td>for stimuli presentation and/or testing</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:247px;">MS PowerPoint (optional)</td>
			<td style="width:275px;">Microsoft</td>
			<td style="width:192px;"></td>
			<td>for stimuli presentation and/or testing</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:247px;">MS Word (optional)</td>
			<td style="width:275px;">Microsoft</td>
			<td style="width:192px;"></td>
			<td>for free recall testing. Any word processor application will work.</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

the deese-roediger-mcdermott (drm) task: a simple cognitive paradigm to investigate false memories in the laboratory

The Deese,&#160;Roediger and McDermott&#160;(DRM) task is a false memory paradigm in which subjects are presented with lists of semantically related words (e.g., nurse, hospital, etc.) at encoding. After a delay, subjects are asked to recall or recognize these words. In the recognition memory version of the task, subjects are asked whether they remember previously presented words, as well as related (but never presented) critical lure words (&#39;doctor&#39;). Typically, the critical word is recognized with high probability and confidence. This false memory effect has been robustly demonstrated across short (e.g., immediate, 20 min) and long (e.g., 1, 7, 60 d) delays between encoding and memory testing. A strength of using this task to study false memory is its simplicity and short duration. If encoding and retrieval components of the task occur in the same session, the entire task can take as little as 2 - 30 min. However, although the DRM task is widely considered a &#39;false memory&#39; paradigm, some researchers consider DRM illusions to be based on the activation of semantic memory networks in the brain, and argue that such semantic gist-based false memory errors may actually be useful in some scenarios (e.g., remembering the forest for the trees; remembering that a word list was about &#34;doctors&#34;, even though the actual word &#34;doctor&#34; was never presented for study). Remembering the gist of experience (instead of or along with individual details) is arguably an adaptive process and this task has provided a great deal of knowledge about the constructive, adaptive nature of memory. Therefore, researchers should use caution when discussing the overall reach and implications of their experiments when using this task to study &#39;false memory&#39;, as DRM memory errors may not adequately reflect false memories in the real world, such as false memory in eyewitness testimony, or false memories of sexual abuse.

Using the procedure presented here, the authors have been able to reliably produce the DRM effect in two independent experiments; that is, subjects recall and recognize, with high probability, non-presented critical words that can be considered false memories for the &#39;gist&#39; of the word lists.
Results for experiment 1 (see Figures 1 and 2) have been published elsewhere28...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about The Deese-Roediger-McDermott DRM Task: A Simple Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate False Memories in the Laboratory at JoVE.com

The Deese-Roediger-McDermott DRM Task: A Simple Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate False Memories in the Laboratory

Here we present the Deese,&#160;Roediger and McDermott&#160;(DRM) task, a tool to study false memories in the laboratory. Subjects study lists of semantically related words (e.g.,&#160;nurse, sick, etc.), and later falsely remember an unstudied word (doctor) that represents the gist, or theme, of the word list.

The Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) Task: A Simple Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate False Memories in the Laboratory

The Deese,&#160;Roediger and McDermott&#160;(DRM) task is a false memory paradigm in which subjects are presented with lists of semantically related words ...

The overall goal of this experimental task is to study gist based false memories in the laboratory. This method can help answer key questions in cognitive neuroscience, such as how memories are not only created but transformed. More specifically how we forget the details, but remember the gist.The main advantage of this technique is its simplicity, since it's quite straight forward to prepare and conduct this task. Begin by selecting word lists with the highest probability of false recall and recognition. Next, digitally record all the words in each list by using professional equipment, an unfamiliar voice and a soundproof room.Record the word list in descending strength of association at a rate of one word every two seconds. To help participants separate each list, include a delay of 12 seconds of silence followed by a one second tone and two seconds of silence at the end of each list. Then, start the next list.Next, on the computer, drag and drop the audio file into audio editing software. Use the mouse to select the portion of audio to which silence will be applied. Then, select Edit, Remove Audio, and Silence Audio.Use Copy/Paste to apply the one second tone at the start of each list. And then, press stop to save the recording. Select file, export, and choose the file format and destination of the audio file.For the free recall task, have a blank piece of paper and pen ready. Then, select words to include in the recognition task from positions one, eight and 10 from each list that was included in the encoding task. Include all critical lure words from each list that were included in the encoding task.Additionally, include the same number of additional non presented words from other non studied DRM word lists from the same positions, one, eight, and 10 and their corresponding critical lures. Then, use experiment creation software to create self paced presentation of the words and to collect data. Use black font with a white background and reasonable font size.Finally, for the standard old new recognition test, assign separate keys to different responses, such that the Z key means old and the M key means new. Add this legend in with the presentation of each word on the screen. Begin the encoding task by having the subject sit in front of the device containing the recording of the word list and provide instructions about the task to the subject.For this cognitive task, you will be listening to lists of words. At the final word of each list, there will be a 12 second break followed by a one second tone, two seconds of silence and then the start of the next list. Pay close attention to the words because you will be tested on them at the next session.Then, have the subject put on headphones. Press play to begin the test, and turn off the computer monitor to limit any distractions. After the encoding task has ended, provide the subject with instruction for the next testing session.You will come back tomorrow at the same time, okay? Okay.Thank you. 24 hours later, begin by asking the subject to sit at a table with a piece of paper in front of him or her and provide instructions on how to complete the free recall test.This part of the task involves a simple memory test. Please write down all the words you can remember from the list you heard in the last session. You have 10 minutes to recall all the words you can.When there are two minutes left, I will let you know. Then start the timer and inform them of the two minute warning mark. Let the subject complete the test.After time is up, stop the subject. Begin by opening the recognition test within the experiment creation software. Then, have the subject sit in front of the testing computer.Provide the subject with verbal instructions on how to complete the test. You will see a word on the screen. Press Z if you hear or saw this word on a previous list and press M if you think the word is new.Answer as quickly and as accurately as you can. Then, start the recognition test, and wait for the subject to finish. Finally, debrief the subject and thank them for their participation in the study.Results indicated that the overall proportion of words recalled and recognized was higher for false critical words than for the true presented words. Importantly, recognition of false critical words was also significantly higher than recognition for unrelated foil words. Similar results in the second experiment were obtained, such that subjects who returned 24 or 48 hours later to complete the free recall and recognition test also proportionally recalled and recognized more false critical words than true presented words.Once mastered, this technique can be done in five to 30 minutes depending on the number of word lists used as well as other relevant factors. While attempting this procedure, it's important to remember that there are many variations of the DRM test. Please the review the manuscript for examples of such variations.After it's development, this technique paved the way for researchers in the field of psychology and cognitive neuroscience to explore the reconstructive nature of human memory. After watching this video, you should have a good understanding of how to appropriately perform the DRM task in your lab to study gist based false memories.

Research

JoVE Journal

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