Semantic false memories in the form of derived relational intrusions following training.

Researchers taught adults to match words that had no real connection. They used match-to-sample training to build equivalence classes with unrelated words.

After training, they tested memory. They asked people to recall and recognize words they had never seen together.

People falsely remembered words from the same trained class. The equivalence training created false memories for words that were never presented side by side.

The study showed that stimulus equivalence can make people confident about things that never happened.

Ruiz‐Sánchez et al. (2019) repeated the finding with a different method. They used respondent-type training instead of match-to-sample and still got false memories.

Haimson et al. (2009) showed that passing equivalence tests changes brain waves. Their ERP data help explain why people feel so sure about these false memories.

Amd et al. (2013) extended the idea to emotions. They showed that emotional functions can transfer through equivalence classes just like memory content.

Shawler et al. (2022) proved that reinforcing functions also transfer. New stimuli become rewarding after equivalence training with a known reinforcer.

This work warns you that equivalence training can create false memories. When you teach new concepts, probe carefully to check what the learner actually knows versus what they think they know. Use fewer test exposures when accuracy is critical, and always verify that derived relations match real-world facts.