False memory in between-language conditions: a brief review on the effect of encoding and retrieving in different languages.

False memories have been extensively investigated over the past few decades using the Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm. In this paradigm, participants study lists of words associatively related to a non-presented critical lure. During a memory test, these critical lures are falsely recalled or recognized. Most studies have focused on false memories that arise when both encoding and retrieval are conducted in the same language (i.e., within-language conditions), which is typically the participant's native or first language (L1). However, much less is known about false memories when critical lures appear in the memory test in a different language than the studied lists (i.e., between-language conditions), being one of them the participant's second language (L2). The main objective of this exhaustive review was to provide an overview of the current state of research on false recognition using the DRM paradigm in between-language conditions, where languages are switched between encoding and retrieval (i.e., L1L2 versus L2L1). The results revealed a language dominance effect in between-language false memories. In other words, false recognition rates were dependent on the study language, with a trend toward higher false recognition when words were enconded in the L1 (L1L2) compared to when words were encoded in the L2 (L2L1). This review enhances our understanding of how studying words in a first or second language affects false memory in the DRM paradigm, emphasizing the significance of investigating false memory in second language speakers and the necessity for further research in the field.

False memory in a second language: The importance of controlling the knowledge of word meaning.

In the globalized world we live in, it is increasingly common for people to speak more than one language. Although research in psychology has been widely interested in the study of false memories with the Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm, to date, there is a scarcity of studies comparing false memories in the first and the second language (L1 and L2, respectively). It is noteworthy that one of the most studied variables in the DRM paradigm, the backward associative strength (BAS), has hardly been studied in the L2. Moreover, the only study that recently examined this matter found differences in the knowledge of L2-word meaning between the high-BAS and low-BAS lists, which would hinder the interpretation of the BAS effect in L2 false memories. Taking all this into account, the current work examined false memories in the L1 (Spanish) and the L2 (English) as a function of BAS overcoming the limitations of the previous study. We selected DRM lists using both Spanish and English free association norms and lists were constructed to vary in BAS values while controlling the knowledge of word meaning. Results showed that false recognition was greater in the L1 or dominant language than in the L2 or non-dominant language. Furthermore, BAS modulated the false recognition in both the L1 and the L2. That is, false recognition was higher in high-BAS than low-BAS lists in both languages. Sensitivity index from the signal-detection theory helped us gain further insight into these results. The main findings are discussed in the light of theoretical models from both the false memory and the second language processing literature. Finally, practical implications and future research are provided.

Disentangling the Effects of Backward/Forward Associative Strength and Theme Identifiability in False Memory

BACKGROUND: False memory has been extensively studied using the Deese/Roediger-McDermott paradigm. Despite the robustness of the effect, there is wide variability in the results, which is not fully understood. METHOD: Three experiments independently examined the role of backward associative strength (BAS), forward associative strength (FAS), and theme identifiability (ID) on false memories. In Experiment 1, lists varied in BAS while controlling FAS and ID. In Experiment 2, FAS was manipulated while BAS and ID were controlled. Finally, in Experiment 3, lists varied in ID while controlling BAS and FAS. Data was analyzed using both frequentist and Bayesian analyses. RESULTS: We found false memories in all three experiments. Specifically, false recognition was higher in high-BAS than in low-BAS lists in Experiment 1. In Experiment 2, false recognition was higher in high-FAS than in low-FAS lists. In Experiment 3, false recognition was lower in high-ID than in low-ID lists. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that both BAS and FAS─variables that promote error-inflating processes─and ID─which promotes error-editing processes─contribute independently to the production of false memories. Splitting apart the role of these variables helps to understand the variability of false memories and to extrapolate DRM tasks to explore other cognitive domains.

Disentangling the Effects of Backward/Forward Associative Strength and Theme Identifiability in False Memory / Aislando el Papel de la Fuerza Asociativa Directa e Inversa y la Identificabilidad del Tema Sobre los Recuerdos Falsos

Background: False memory has been extensively studied using the Deese/Roediger-McDermott paradigm. Despitethe robustness of the effect, there is wide variability in the results, which is not fully understood. Method: Threeexperiments independently examined the role of backward associative strength (BAS), forward associative strength(FAS), and theme identifiability (ID) on false memories. In Experiment 1, lists varied in BAS while controlling FAS andID. In Experiment 2, FAS was manipulated while BAS and ID were controlled. Finally, in Experiment 3, lists variedin ID while controlling BAS and FAS. Data was analyzed using both frequentist and Bayesian analyses. Results: Wefound false memories in all three experiments. Specifically, false recognition was higher in high-BAS than in low-BASlists in Experiment 1. In Experiment 2, false recognition was higher in high-FAS than in low-FAS lists. In Experiment3, false recognition was lower in high-ID than in low-ID lists. Conclusions: These findings suggest that both BAS andFAS—variables that promote error-inflating processes—and ID—which promotes error-editing processes—contributeindependently to the production of false memories. Splitting apart the role of these variables helps to understand thevariability of false memories and to extrapolate DRM tasks to explore other cognitive domains.(AU)

Antecedentes: las memorias falsas se han estudiado ampliamente utilizando el paradigma Deese/Roediger-McDermott. A pesar de la robustez del efecto, existe una amplia variabilidad de resultados que todavía no se comprendecompletamente. Método: tres experimentos examinaron independientemente el papel de la fuerza asociativa inversa(BAS), fuerza asociativa directa (FAS) e identificabilidad del tema (ID) en el reconocimiento falso (RF). Primero, semanipuló el BAS mientras se controló FAS e ID (Experimento 1). Segundo, se manipuló el FAS mientras se controlóBAS e ID (Experimento 2). Finalmente, se manipuló ID mientras se controló BAS y FAS (Experimento 3). Se utilizaronanálisis frecuentistas y bayesianos. Resultados: el RF fue mayor en las listas de alto que bajo BAS (Experimento 1), yalto que bajo FAS (Experimento 2). En cambio, el RF fue menor en las listas de alto ID que bajo ID (Experimento 3).Conclusiones: tanto BAS como FAS, variables que promueven procesos de inflación del error, pero también ID, quienpromueve procesos de edición del error, contribuyen de forma independiente a la producción de memorias falsas. Aislarel papel de estas variables ayuda a comprender la variabilidad de los falsos recuerdos y a extrapolar las tareas DRM paraexplorar otros dominios cognitivos.(AU)

COVID-19 Associated Pulmonary Aspergillosis (CAPA): Hospital or Home Environment as a Source of Life-Threatening Aspergillus fumigatus Infection?

Most cases of invasive aspergillosis are caused by Aspergillus fumigatus, whose conidia are ubiquitous in the environment. Additionally, in indoor environments, such as houses or hospitals, conidia are frequently detected too. Hospital-acquired aspergillosis is usually associated with airborne fungal contamination of the hospital air, especially after building construction events. A. fumigatus strain typing can fulfill many needs both in clinical settings and otherwise. The high incidence of aspergillosis in COVID patients from our hospital, made us wonder if they were hospital-acquired aspergillosis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the hospital environment was the source of aspergillosis infection in CAPA patients, admitted to the Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias, during the first and second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, or whether it was community-acquired aspergillosis before admission. During 2020, sixty-nine A. fumigatus strains were collected for this study: 59 were clinical isolates from 28 COVID-19 patients, and 10 strains were environmentally isolated from seven hospital rooms and intensive care units. A diagnosis of pulmonary aspergillosis was based on the ECCM/ISHAM criteria. Strains were genotyped by PCR amplification and sequencing of a panel of four hypervariable tandem repeats within exons of surface protein coding genes (TRESPERG). A total of seven genotypes among the 10 environmental strains and 28 genotypes among the 59 clinical strains were identified. Genotyping revealed that only one environmental A. fumigatus from UCI 5 (box 54) isolated in October (30 October 2020) and one A. fumigatus isolated from a COVID-19 patient admitted in Pneumology (Room 532-B) in November (24 November 2020) had the same genotype, but there was a significant difference in time and location. There was also no relationship in time and location between similar A. fumigatus genotypes of patients. The global A. fumigatus, environmental and clinical isolates, showed a wide diversity of genotypes. To our knowledge, this is the first study monitoring and genotyping A. fumigatus isolates obtained from hospital air and COVID-19 patients, admitted with aspergillosis, during one year. Our work shows that patients do not acquire A. fumigatus in the hospital. This proves that COVID-associated aspergillosis in our hospital is not a nosocomial infection, but supports the hypothesis of "community aspergillosis" acquisition outside the hospital, having the home environment (pandemic period at home) as the main suspected focus of infection.

Feelings of Contrast at Test Reduce False Memory in the Deese/Roediger-McDermott Paradigm.

False memories in the Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm are explained in terms of the interplay between error-inflating and error-editing (e.g., monitoring) mechanisms. In this study, we focused on disqualifying monitoring, a decision process that helps to reject false memories through the recollection of collateral information (i.e., recall-to-reject strategies). Participants engage in recall-to-reject strategies using one or two metacognitive processes: (1) applying the logic of mutual exclusivity or (2) experiencing feelings of contrast between studied items and unstudied lures. We aimed to provide, for the first time in the DRM literature, evidence favorable to the existence of a recall-to-reject strategy based on the experience of feelings of contrast. One hundred and forty participants studied six-word DRM lists (e.g., spy, hell, fist, fight, abduction, mortal), simultaneously associated with three critical lures (e.g., WAR, BAD, FEAR). Lists differed in their ease to identify their critical lures (extremely low-BAS lists vs. high-BAS lists). At recognition test, participants saw either one or the three critical lures of the lists. Participants in the three-critical-lure condition were expected to increase their monitoring, as they would experience stronger feelings of contrast than the participants in the one-critical-lure condition. Results supported our hypothesis, showing lower false recognition in the three-critical-lure condition than in the one-critical-lure condition. Critically, in the three-critical-lure condition, participants reduced even more false memory when they could also resort to another monitoring strategy (i.e., identify-to-reject). These findings suggest that, in the DRM context, disqualifying monitoring could be guided by experiencing feelings of contrast between different types of words.

The Role of Language Proficiency in False Memory: A Mini Review.

Memory errors and, specifically, false memories in the Deese/Roediger-McDermott paradigm have been extensively studied in the past decades. Most studies have investigated false memory in monolinguals' native or first language (L1), but interest has also grown in examining false memories in participants' second language (L2) with different proficiency levels. The main purpose of this manuscript is to review the current state of knowledge on the role of language proficiency on false memories when participants encode and retrieve information in the same language. To do so, a systematic literature search was conducted, and the available studies were reviewed. These studies differed in, for example, age, language proficiency, or material characteristics, including both high and low associative strength lists, and they reported different results. In this review, we attempted to make sense of the apparently contradictory results by carefully identifying participants' language dominance and L2 proficiency. Specifically, the results indicated that, first, people are more prone to produce false memories in their dominant than in their non-dominant language. This result generalizes to lists with high and low associative strength, as well as to participants of different ages. Second, false memories do not differ between two languages when speakers are equally proficient in both languages. Finally, highly proficient L2 speakers produce more false memories in their L2 than speakers with lower L2 proficiency. The results of this review will be considered in the light of the theoretical frameworks of false memories and bilingual language processing.