New research finds that mental imagery is an effective way to improve memory and reduce some false memories.
For the research, one group were told to use imagery to remember a list of words while the other were just told to remember the words.
Ms Merrin Oliver, the study’s first author, said, “Creating images improved participants’ memories and helped them commit fewer errors, regardless of what kind of list we gave them.”
Their study suggests more detailed imagery instructions are necessary to help filter out false memories during a recognition test, where false memories are typically very high. People should create detailed images with unique characteristics to help avoid the endorsement of false memories on recognition-based tests like true/false or multiple-choice assessments, where you are tempted by lures and possible false memories.
Ms Oliver explains that false memories may come from misremembering the source, and they would mistakenly recollect studying words similar to those on the list.
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Source material from psyblog