Illusory recollection: The compelling subjective remembrance of things that never happened. Insights from the DRM paradigm.

Illusory recollection is the subjective detailed feeling of remembering that sometimes accompanies false remembering of events that never happened (e.g., high confidence, “Remember” judgements, or even remembrance of precise details supposedly associated with the false event). In this review, typical illusory recollection measures obtained from laboratory studies will be depicted, with a focus on the DRM paradigm (Deese, 1959; Roediger & McDermott, 1995), one of the most largely used procedures to study memory distortion and its associated illusory recollection. The theoretical explanations of illusory recollection will be described and contrasted in light of factors affecting the phenomenon, in order to shown their strengths and limits. Although the focus on the origins of illusory recollection is relatively recent, overall, this review suggests that DRM false memories can be an excellent tool to study this phenomenon under controlled conditions and to gain insights on false memories occurring in everyday life.