Vividness of visual imagery and false memory creation

Abstract

Research has established that encouraging people to visually imagine events through guided imagery can induce false memories (Muschella & Schonborn, 2021; Paddock et al., 1998) through imagination inflation (Loftus et al., 1996). Much of the previous research has focused solely on situations where people are formally asked to visualize events. This study experimentally investigated the role of prompting visualization on false memory creation while testing for vividness of a person’s visual imagery as a possible moderator. The first hypothesis was that those who were given the visualization prompt would have more false memories than those with no prompt. The second hypothesis was that there would be a positive correlation between vividness of visual imagery and false memory creation; the more vivid a person’s visual imagery, the more susceptible they would be to false memories. The third and final hypothesis was that the vividness of a person’s visual imagery would moderate the effect of the visualization prompt; when prompted to visualize, those with especially vivid visual imagery would be more prone to false memory than those with less vivid visual imagery. In session 1, participants watched a video of a local arts festival and were asked questions over the video. The experimental group was asked to visualize the events from the videos that were being asked about. This ‘interview’ included subtle pieces of misinformation about the events in the video (e.g., referring to a red golf cart that was actually blue). In session 2, after a three-day delay, they were given a recognition task in which they selected the events they remembered from the video from a provided list, which included some correct and some incorrect details. They also completed the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ; Marks, 1973). Results indicated no significant difference in the use of a visualization prompt. Vividness of visual imagery did not significantly moderate the formation of false memories. There was no significant relationship between vividness of visual imagery and false memory formation. The major limitations of the current study are limited sample size and the resulting low statistical power. The results of the current study may be beneficial in the context of police interviewing using visualization to induce context-reinstatement. This area of research may benefit from further investigation to more conclusively close the door on the relationship between false memory creation and vividness of visual imagery, especially if we consider a person’s natural tendency to visualize. In other words, the prompt may not matter because people are naturally inclined to automatically visualize when recalling a memory.