Forgetting having denied: The “amnesic” consequences of denial

Abstract

The concept of denial has its roots in psychoanalysis. Denial has been assumed to be effective in blocking unwanted memories. In two experiments, we report that denial has unique consequences for remembering. In our two experiments, participants viewed a video of a theft, and half of the participants had to deny seeing certain details in the video, whereas the other half had to tell the truth. One day later, all participants were given either a source-monitoring recognition or a recall task. In these tasks, they were instructed to indicate (1) whether they could remember talking about certain details and (2) whether they could recollect seeing those details in the video. In both experiments, we found that denial made participants forget that they had talked about these details, while leaving memory for the video itself unaffected. This denial-induced forgetting was evident for both the source-monitoring recognition and recall tests. Furthermore, when we asked participants after the experiment whether they could still not remember talking about these details, those who had to deny were most likely to report that they had forgotten talking about the details. In contrast to a widely held belief, we show that denial does not impair memory for the experienced stimuli, but that it has a unique ability to undermine memory for what has been talked about.

The impact of lying about a traumatic virtual reality experience on memory

“…What was demonstrated was that participants in the false denial condition exhibited memory impairment for details that they discussed in the first interview. To date, DIF has been replicated in various experiments using different stimuli (i.e., negative and neutral pictures; Otgaar et al, 2016), different memory tasks (recall and recognition; Otgaar et al, 2018), and when participants were instructed to feign memory loss for a crime (Romeo, Otgaar, Smeets, Landström, & Jelicic, 2018).…”

“…One issue in previous experiments on the effect of denying on memory is that participants were explicitly instructed to falsely deny (e.g., Otgaar et al, 2014; Otgaar et al, 2016; Otgaar et al, 2018; Vieira & Lane, 2013). Of course, in many cases, victims decide themselves whether they will use a certain strategy to cope with an adverse experience.…”

“…To date, research on the memory effects of false denial has used stimuli such as videos (Otgaar, Howe, Memon, & Wang, 2014; Otgaar, Romeo, Howe, & Ramakers, 2018) and pictures (Otgaar et al, 2016). Since real-world generalizability is limited when using stimuli such as videos or pictures, in the current experiment participants experienced a more ecologically valid stimulus (i.e., traumatic virtual reality scene).…”

An experimental investigation of the misinformation effect in crime‐related amnesia claims

“…These deceptive strategies produce different memory outcomes that are also correspondingly placed along a continuum. On the one hand, research has shown that falsely denying certain event‐related details during an interview can eventually lead to forget that those details were previously denied (e.g., Otgaar, Howe, Smeets, & Wang, 2016; Otgaar, Romeo, Howe, & Ramakers, 2018; Polage, 2018). On the other hand, fabricating new information has been shown to increase memory error rates at a later stage (e.g., Van Oorsouw & Giesbrecht, 2008), although it does not seem to undermine the gist of correct recollection (e.g., Ackil & Zaragoza, 2011; Chroback & Zaragoza, 2008).…”

Defending or relinquishing belief in occurrence for remembered events that are challenged: A social‐cognitive model

“…In some studies the source of the misinformation that challenges one's original memory comes not from an external source but from oneself, as when one lies about what they experienced. Studies have shown that false denials (e.g., saying “I did not see an orange cat” when in fact I did see an orange cat) can also lead to omission errors in subsequent memory reports (Otgaar & Baker, 2018; Vieira & Lane, 2013; see also Otgaar, Howe, Memon, & Wang, 2014; Otgaar, Romeo, Ramakers, & Howe, 2018). Internal feedback of this sort potentially could lead to the sort of interpersonal dissonance described in our model.…”