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Psychology and Law
2015. Vol. 5, no. 2, 126–137
https://doi.org/10.17759/psylaw.2015100210
ISSN: 2222-5196 (online)

To forget or to remember: Denial deflation effect and subjective confidence of autobiographical memories

 
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Abstract

The paper focuses on the problem of the long-lasting effect of deliberate lie on autobiographical memories, which seems to be of extreme importance for forensic psychology. Firstly, the literature on autobiographical memory’s malleability is reviewed in the context of legal issues. Then we present the empirical field study carried out to examine dynamics of confidence toward episodes of personal past after participants had been instructed a) to retell a false episode as true; b) to retell a false episode as false; c) to deny the reality of a true episode. We coined the main finding as “Denial deflation”. This effect exists in two forms. The first is forgetting of falsely denied true episode. The second is mistaken acceptance of truthfully denied false episode. Our findings indicate that the act of lying produces specific effect on memory performance both for intentional creation of false story and for intentional denial of true experience.

General Information

Keywords: autobiographical memory, lie, subjective confidence, autobiographical memory’s malleability

Journal rubric: Interdisciplinary Studies

OpenAlex citations: 5

OpenAlex trends: Memory Processes and Influences, Deception detection and forensic psychology, Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics

Information about the work in OpenAlex

Number of citations: 5

Topics

Memory Processes and Influences

This cluster of papers explores the neural mechanisms underlying memory retrieval, including the roles of recollection and familiarity, metacognitive processes, emotional memory, and the testing effect. It also delves into the phenomena of forgetting and false memories.

Number of works: 49617  |  Total number of citations: 1255280

Topic detailsв OpenAlex

Deception detection and forensic psychology

This cluster of papers focuses on the detection of deception in communication and interrogation, exploring various cues, cognitive processes, neural correlates, and psychophysiological measures associated with lying. It also delves into the dynamics of police interviews, the impact of confessions, and the role of nonverbal behavior in detecting deception.

Number of works: 36530  |  Total number of citations: 389494

Topic detailsв OpenAlex

Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics

This cluster of papers explores various aspects of epistemology, including the nature of knowledge, belief, justification, and epistemic intuitions. It delves into topics such as testimony, skepticism, truth, assertion, perception, and expertise in philosophical studies.

Number of works: 66042  |  Total number of citations: 764058

Topic detailsв OpenAlex

Work details in OpenAlex

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/psylaw.2015100210

Published

For citation: Nurkova, V.V. (2015). To forget or to remember: Denial deflation effect and subjective confidence of autobiographical memories. Psychology and Law, 5(2), 126–137. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17759/psylaw.2015100210

© Nurkova V.V., 2015

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

References

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Information About the Authors

Veronika V. Nurkova, Doctor of Psychology, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leading researcher at the School of Anthropology of the Future, Institute of Social Sciences of the Russian National Economy and Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation (RANEPA), Associate Professor of the Faculty of the Effective Academy of Psychology, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Moscow, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3117-3081, e-mail: vernur@yahoo.com

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