Vieillissement, qualité de l’encodage et faux souvenirs.

The current experiment explored the effect of enhancing the quality of encoding on the creation of false memories in older participants. Three groups of participants (1 group of younger adults and two groups of older adults) were presented with a modified version (Brédart, 2000) of the DRM paradigm (Roediger & McDermott, 1995) which permitted to elicit false recall. We used a short interstimuli interval (ISI of 1.5 sec) in the younger and the older control group. A slower rate of presentation was used in the experimental older group (ISI of 3 seconds). The comparison of younger and older controls confirmed a greater susceptibility to false memories in the elderly. In addition, supporting our predictions, when both older groups were compared, lengthening of the ISI led to : a) an improvement of the quality of the encoding, b) an improvement of the source monitoring. These data suggest that the deficits in source monitoring, resulting in the higher sensibility to false memories in older adults, might be related to a differential encoding of the material that would not allow the correct binding of items and their presentation context durant the learning phase.