Brief Report: False Memory Formation in Autism: The Role of Relational Processing at Study.
Autistic adults form false memories at the same rate as peers, but their word links stay quiet unless you ask for them.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Price et al. (2025) asked autistic and non-autistic adults to study lists of related words. Later they tested who falsely remembered words that were never shown.
The team also checked whether the adults used automatic links between words while they learned.
What they found
Both groups made the same number of false memories.
Autistic adults could still link words when asked, but the links did not pop up on their own.
How this fits with other research
Giesbers et al. (2020) saw more false memories in autistic children. The new adult data show the problem may fade with age.
Beversdorf et al. (2007) thought weaker word links would protect autistic people from false memories. Jennifer et al. show the links are there when you ask, but they stay quiet unless prompted.
Matson et al. (2013) found autistic adults recall live events as well as peers, yet make more source errors. Together the studies say memory quantity can match, but the way details are stored and retrieved differs.
Why it matters
When you interview autistic clients, do not assume fewer false memories. Use clear, open questions and avoid leading cues. Check if they are guessing words that feel related but were never said. These steps keep reports accurate in therapy, court, or classroom settings.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
PURPOSE: Several studies have investigated false memory production in autistic adults, yet it remains unclear whether susceptibility to false memories differs from non-autistic adults and what mechanisms might contribute to any differences. This study examines the mechanisms behind false memory formation in autistic adults using the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm. METHODS: Participants studied DRM word lists designed to activate a critical word (the 'critical lure). To examine false memory formation and associative processing, participants completed three tasks: a standard recognition test to measure false memory rates, a word stem completion task to assess implicit priming of the critical lure, and a free association task to evaluate explicit associative processing. RESULTS: Autistic individuals showed comparable rates of false memories as non-autistic adults (i.e., falsely reporting having studied the critical lure), were as likely to mention the critical lure on the free association task but showed no tendency to complete word stems with the critical lure when implicitly primed to do so. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that autistic adults may rely less on spontaneous spreading of semantic activation during encoding but are capable of engaging in explicit associative processing when directed. The results provide valuable insights into the mechanisms underlying false memory formation in autism.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2025 · doi:10.1007/s10803-025-06803-1