Şahin, G. & Tekman, H. G.
Psychology Department. Uludag University. Bursa, TURKEY
Recollection, sensitivity and bias parameters for false memories after visual or auditory study in the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm were examined using signal detection theory (SDT). Hit and false alarm rates were determined for three types of words: Critical words of DRM lists; members of DRM lists, which were related to the other list words; and members of lists made of unrelated words. In a visual recognition test, participants indicated their confidence in having studied each item on a six-point scale. According to the analyses of the recollection, sensitivity, and bias parameters of the best-fitting ROC curves, sensitivity was lower for critical and related words and there was significantly greater bias for accepting critical words as old. It appeared that participants did not experience false recollection for the critical words but they were more willing to call them “old” and they had difficulty distinguishing whether they had actually been studied. Key words: False memory, modality effect, signal detection theory, recollection, sensitivity, bias.