Implanting false autobiographical memories and the effect of mood on false autobiographical memory creation

Although human memory appears to be highly reliable, memory distortions are inevitable, influenced by external factors or the passage of time. These distortions have significant psychological and social consequences in many cases. Researchers have extensively studied these memory distortions, commonly known as false memory. The phenomenon has been primarily investigated through implantation studies. The present study has two main objectives. Firstly, it aims to replicate a new method for implanting false autobiographical memories (Otgaar et al., 2022). Secondly, it seeks to explore the impact of mood on the rates of false autobiographical belief and memory implantation, specifically examining whether the rates differ between positive and negative moods. For the replication phase, the participants were divided into Single and Repeated groups (N = 104, Mage = 31). Participants were presented with a set of 20 autobiographical events, including a critical false event (swimsuit falling off), and were asked to recall whether they had experienced these events. After one week, participants who had not encountered the false event were given a second survey that suggested they had indeed experienced it, with one group being suggested once and the other repeatedly. They were then asked to provide belief and recollection ratings, along with event-related details. The replication of the study was partially successful, with the successful implantation of false beliefs and false memories ranging between 4% and 12%. Interestingly, the occurrence of false beliefs and false memories was equally probable in both the Single and Repeated groups. For the mood induction phase, participants were divided into four groups: Single-Positive, Single-Negative, Repeated-Positive, and Repeated-Negative (N = 206, Mage = 31). The same procedure was followed, but at the onset of the second survey, participants' mood was manipulated using positive or negative video clips. The mood induction part of the study was also partially successful. The occurrence of false memories was equally probable in both the Positive and Negative mood groups. However, regardless of the event frequency groups, the false belief creation was significantly higher in the Negative mood groups than in the Positive mood groups, aligning with previous literature. Similarly, psychopathologies characterized by persistent negative mood states such as depression and PTSD, along with their subclinical symptoms, might also exhibit susceptibility to suggestion in both therapeutic contexts and everyday situations. The study's results, clinical implications, limitations, and future recommendations were thoroughly discussed.