Previous studies have shown that imagining an event can alter autobiographical beliefs. The current study examined whether it can also create false memories. One group of participants imagined a relatively frequent event and received information about an event that never occurs. A second group imagined the nonoccurring event and received information about the frequent event. One week before and again 1 week immediately after the manipulation, participants rated the likelihood that they had experienced each of the two critical events and a series of noncritical events, using the Life Events Inventory. During the last phase, participants were also asked to describe any memories they had for the events. For both events, imagination increased the number of memories reported, as well as beliefs about experiencing the event. These results indicate that imagination can induce false autobiographical memories.

中文翻译：

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想象力可以创造虚假的自传记忆

以前的研究表明，想象一个事件可以改变自传的信念。目前的研究检查了它是否也会产生虚假记忆。一组参与者想象一个相对频繁的事件，并收到有关从未发生过的事件的信息。第二组想象未发生的事件并接收有关频繁事件的信息。在操作前一周和操作后 1 周，参与者使用生活事件清单评估他们经历两个关键事件和一系列非关键事件的可能性。在最后阶段，参与者还被要求描述他们对事件的任何记忆。对于这两个事件，想象力增加了报告的记忆数量，以及对经历事件的信念。