The effect of negative valence on false memory formation in the Deese–Roediger–McDermott paradigm: A preregistered meta-analysis and preregistered replication.

Participants in the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm learn lists of words (e.g., bed, tired) associated with a nonpresented lure (i.e., sleep). In subsequent memory tests, individuals tend to report the nonlearned lures, that is, exhibiting false memories. Priorly, the DRM task has been criticized for not capturing the aversive nature of (clinically and forensically relevant) real-life memories. To obtain a robust estimate of the influence of negative versus neutral word lists on the DRM effect, we conducted both a preregistered meta-analysis (