False Alarms About False Memories

M. B. Miller and G. L. Wolford (1999) make two contributions. First, they add conditions to the basic Roediger-McDermott (1995) procedure and find that critical items are recalled and recognized more often if they are presented in the list than if they are not presented. These results agree with our own, which are briefly reviewed. Second, they apply signal detection theory to the paradigm and conclude that false responding is caused by a shift of response criterion. They present no evidence that requires this interpretation, however, and we discuss several reasons why their account is implausible. For example, even when fully informed subjects are asked to use a very strict criterion in responding, the false recognition phenomenon persists at high levels. Further, some variables produce opposite effects on veridical and false recall and recognition; this pattern is difficult to accommodate solely by a shift in response criterion. Therefore, little evidence exists that a simple shift of response criterion can explain false recall and false recognition phenomena in the Roediger-McDermott paradigm.