Seamon, Luo, and Gallo reported evidence that nonconscious processes could produce false recognition in a converging-associates task, whereby subjects falsely remember a nonstudied lure after studying a list of related words . Zeelenberg, Plomp, and Raaijmakers failed to observe this false recognition effect when list word recognition was at chance. We critically evaluate the evidence for nonsconscious processing and report the results of a new experiment designed to overcome previous methodological limitations. Consistent with Seamon et al., we found that conscious (...) activation of a related lure during study was not necessary for its subsequent recognition; consistent with Zeelenberg et al., we found no evidence for recognition of related lures under conditions where there was no memory for studied words. It is currently unknown whether conscious recollection of the studied items is necessary for false recognition or if nonconscious activation of the lure is sufficient. (shrink)

Entre 1933 et 1945, la SS, qui se voulait l’élite des « soldats politiques » du régime nazi, développa un important programme visant à prodiguer à ses troupes une « instruction idéologique » weltanschauliche Schulung. Cet article donne un aperçu des conceptions et des méthodes de l’instruction idéologique et retrace les évolutions qu’elles subirent dans le contexte des transformations d’ensemble de la SS elle-même. Bien que l’« instruction idéologique » n’ait finalement pas produit les résultats décisifs escomptés par ses promoteurs, (...) elle n’en fournit pas moins un matériau exemplaire pour une étude des méthodes utilisées par les régimes totalitaires pour fabriquer du consentement politique.From 1933 to 1945, the SS, which claimed to be the elite of the Nazi regime’s “political soldiers”, developed a major programme to provide “ideological schooling” for its troops. This article discusses the concepts and methods of “ideological schooling” and how they evolved with the transformations and changing priorities of the SS itself. Although in the end it did not pro- duce the decisive results that the Nazi hierarchy expected, this “ideological schooling” program nevertheless provides a unique source material for a paradigmatic case study of the methods used by totalitarian regimes to manufacture political consent. (shrink)

Are nonconscious processes sufficient to cause false memories of a nonstudied event? To investigate this issue, we controlled and measured conscious processing in the DRM task, in which studying associates causes false memories of nonstudied associates . During the study phase, subjects studied visually masked associates at extremely rapid rates, followed by immediate recall. After this initial phase, nonstudied test words were rapidly presented for perceptual identification, followed by recognition memory judgments. On the perceptual identification task, we found significant priming (...) of nonstudied associates, relative to control words. We also found significant false recognition of these nonstudied associates, even when subjects did not recall this word at study or identify it at test, indicating that nonconscious processes can cause false recognition. These recognition effects were found immediately after studying each list of associates, but not on a delayed test that occurred after the presentation of several intervening lists. Nonconscious processes are sufficient to cause this memory illusion on immediate tests, but may be insufficient for more vivid and lasting false memories. (shrink)