False Memories in Depression: Vulnerability Factor or Symptom?

Abstract

False memories are sometimes generated when recalling words from lists in which the words are conceptually related. People think of concepts that are associated with the lists but which were never presented. Previous research has shown that sad mood reduces false memories whereas depression increases false memories, especially to negative information. It is possible that false memories represent a cognitive characteristic that is present prior to depression. I hypothesized that depressed individuals and those vulnerable to depression would falsely recall more negative critical lures than controls. Depressed and vulnerable individuals were not expected to perform differently from each other. The results did not support these hypotheses. High ruminators recalled significantly fewer critical lures independent of mood or depression. This finding possibly suggests that ruminators may have a repetitive focus on the words in the lists and do not make extra-list associations.