Do Emotion Words Create More False Memories than Neutral Words?

Sehar Suneja

doi:10.36948/ijfmr.2026.v08i01.66128

Do Emotion Words Create More False Memories than Neutral Words?

Author(s)	Sehar Suneja
Country	India
Abstract	Memory as a cognitive process is inherently reconstructive, and emotional material can significantly influence how human experiences and events are encoded and later recalled. Existing research using the Deese- Roediger - McDermott paradigm has demonstrated that emotionally charged information (positive and negative) can increase false memories, but findings on the impact of valence and the role of gender remain mixed. The present study examined the role of emotional valence (positive, negative, neutral) in the formation of false memories in adolescents and whether gender influences these associations. 53 participants aged 14 - 18 years completed an online standardized recognition task that involved six randomized DRM word lists presented in the form of short videos. Participants then completed a 48-item recognition task including words studied, critical lures and unrelated distractions. Results showcased that negative lists produced the highest false memory rates (M = 0.86), followed by positive (M = 0.74) and then neutral lists (M = 0. 69), while hit rates were highest for positive words (M = 0.78) and lowest for neutral words (M = 0.47). Results of discrimination scores were also highest for positive lists, showing better ability to discriminate between studies from unstudied words, whereas negative lists increased the reliance on gist-based processing. Gender analysis across all domains revealed no significant differences, suggesting similar memory performance across both genders (male and female). These findings show the influential role of emotional valence (particularly negative emotion) in shaping false memories, with implications for understanding false memories in educational, legal and media related contexts.
Keywords	Memory, False Memory, DRM Paradigm, Emotional Valence, Arousal, Memory Distortion, Semantic Association, Gist- Based Processing
Field	Sociology > Philosophy / Psychology / Religion
Published In	Volume 8, Issue 1, January-February 2026
Published On	2026-01-11
DOI	https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2026.v08i01.66128

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Do Emotion Words Create More False Memories than Neutral Words?

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