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A more recent version of this article was published on [03-11-2015]

Constructing Rich False Memories of Committing Crime

  1. Julia Shaw1
  2. Stephen Porter2
  1. 1University of Bedfordshire
  2. 2University of British Columbia
  1. Julia Shaw, University of Bedfordshire–Psychology, A209, University Square, Luton LU1 3JU, United Kingdom E-mail: julishaw{at}gmail.com

  1. Author Contributions J. Shaw and S. Porter developed the study concept and design. Data collection, analysis, and interpretation were performed by J. Shaw under the supervision of S. Porter. J. Shaw wrote the manuscript and revised it in response to peer-review suggestions, and S. Porter provided feedback. Both authors approved the final version of the manuscript for submission.

Abstract

Memory researchers long have speculated that certain tactics may lead people to recall crimes that never occurred, and thus could potentially lead to false confessions. This is the first study to provide evidence suggesting that full episodic false memories of committing crime can be generated in a controlled experimental setting. With suggestive memory-retrieval techniques, participants were induced to generate criminal and noncriminal emotional false memories, and we compared these false memories with true memories of emotional events. After three interviews, 70% of participants were classified as having false memories of committing a crime (theft, assault, or assault with a weapon) that led to police contact in early adolescence and volunteered a detailed false account. These reported false memories of crime were similar to false memories of noncriminal events and to true memory accounts, having the same kinds of complex descriptive and multisensory components. It appears that in the context of a highly suggestive interview, people can quite readily generate rich false memories of committing crime.

Article Notes

  • Declaration of Conflicting Interests The authors declared that they had no conflicts of interest with respect to their authorship or the publication of this article.

  • Funding We acknowledge the financial support of the University of British Columbia through the Lashley and Mary Haggman Memory Research Award and the financial support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

  • Supplemental Material Additional supporting information can be found at http://pss.sagepub.com/content/by/supplemental-data

  • Received February 5, 2014.
  • Accepted November 14, 2014.

This Article

  1. Published online before print January 14, 2015, doi: 10.1177/0956797614562862 Psychological Science 0956797614562862
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