Date of Award
2015
Publisher
North Dakota State University
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Awarded
Master of Science (MS)
Program
Psychology
Department
Psychology
College
Science and Mathematics
Faculty Advisor
Rokke, Paul D.
Description
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.
Recommended Citation
Myhre, Samantha Kathleen, "False Memories in Depression: Vulnerability Factor or Symptom?" (2015). Psychology. 1.
https://digitalcommons.ndsu.edu/psychology/1
Rights
NDSU Policy 190.6.2
Rights Link
https://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/policy/190.pdf
Handle Identifier
https://hdl.handle.net/10365/27829