title: Observation inflation. Your actions become mine.
abstract: Imagining performing an action can induce false memories of having actually performed it-this is referred to as the imagination-inflation effect. Drawing on research suggesting that action observation-like imagination-involves action simulation, and thus creates matching motor representations in observers, we examined whether false memories of self-performance can also result from merely observing another person's actions. In three experiments, participants observed actions, some of which they had not performed earlier, and took a source-memory test. Action observation robustly produced false memories of self-performance relative to control conditions. The demonstration of this effect, which we refer to as observation inflation, reveals a previously unknown source of false memories that is ubiquitous in everyday life. The effect persisted despite warnings or instructions to focus on self-performance cues given immediately before the test, and despite elimination of sensory overlap between performance and observation. The findings are not easily reconciled with a source-monitoring account but appear to fit an account invoking interpersonal motor simulation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Cologne.
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lindner
authors.forename: Gerald
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Echterhoff
authors.forename: Patrick S R
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Davidson
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brand
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination; D008297:Male; D009068:Movement; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D012094:Repression, Psychology; D014741:Video Recording; D055815:Young Adult