title: The imagination inflation effect in healthy older adults and patients with mild Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The imagination inflation effect is a type of memory distortion defined as an increased tendency to falsely remember that an item has been seen, or an action has been performed, when it has only been imagined. For patients with very mild Alzheimer's disease (AD), susceptibility to the imagination inflation effect could have significant functional consequences in daily life.
  
  
  METHODS
  We assessed whether patients with very mild AD were more or less susceptible to the imagination inflation effect when compared with healthy older adults. In the first session, participants were read an action statement such as "fill the pillbox" and engaged in 1 of 3 activities: listened to the statement being read, performed the action, or imagined performing the action. During the second session, participants imagined action statements from the first session, as well as new action statements. During the recognition test, participants were asked to determine whether action statements were or were not performed during the first session.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that imagining performing actions increased the tendency of patients with very mild AD to falsely recall the action as having been performed to an extent similar to that of healthy older adults.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We concluded that, similar to healthy older adults, patients with very mild AD were susceptible to the imagination inflation effect, which we attributed to difficulties with source monitoring and reliance on familiarity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Bedford Veterans Affairs Hospital.
authors.forename: Maureen K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: O'Connor
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Texas State University.
authors.forename: Rebecca G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Deason
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh.
authors.forename: Erin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Reynolds
authors.affiliation: Center for Translational Cognitive Neuroscience, VA Boston Healthcare System.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Tat
authors.affiliation: Center for Translational Cognitive Neuroscience, VA Boston Healthcare System.
authors.forename: Sean
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Flannery
authors.affiliation: Boston Center for Memory.
authors.forename: Paul R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Solomon
authors.affiliation: Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Center, Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine.
authors.forename: Elizabeth A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Vassey
authors.affiliation: Center for Translational Cognitive Neuroscience, VA Boston Healthcare System.
authors.forename: Andrew E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Budson
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D011939:Mental Recall; D021641:Recognition, Psychology