True (but not false) memories are subject to retrieval-induced forgetting in children

• Using DRM word lists, children’s true and false memories were subject to partial retrieval practice.
• Children’s reports of true memories showed evidence of retrieval-induced forgetting across delays as long as two days.
• The results contrast with some research in adults finding no differences in true and false memories.

Veridical and false memories of children aged 6 to 15 years were studied in two experiments with the retrieval-induced forgetting paradigm. Using the Deese–Roediger–McDermott (DRM) false memory word lists, children’s reports of true, but not false, memories showed evidence of retrieval-induced forgetting. These differences were observed across delays as long as 2 days following word list presentation. The lack of observation of retrieval-induced forgetting in children’s false memories provides evidence that a key assumption in the theory of retrieval-induced forgetting, cue independence, might not consistently apply. These experiments underscore the need for both practical and theoretically motivated study of true and false memories.