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.