I föreliggande studie togs inspiration från Deese-Roediger-McDermott–paradigmet (DRM). I ett minnesexperiment, enligt DRM-paradigmet, studeras skillnader i återkallning av antalet presenterade ord i form av en lista; s.k. associerade ord (t.ex. associerade med ordet "svart") och s.k. fristående ord. Det associerade ordet, s.k. det kritiska ordet svart, presenterades aldrig för experimentdeltagarna.

Tre frågeställningar besvarades: (a) Är associativa ord lättare att återkalla än fristående ord? (b) Hur skiljer sig minnesförmågan mellan män och kvinnor oavsett grupp? (c) Hur många av deltagarna från experimentgruppen kan fabulera det kritiska ordet?

Ett experiment tillämpades i undersökningen, med en experimentgrupp och en kontrollgrupp som studerade totalt femton ord. Experimentgruppen studerade en associativ ordlista och kontrollgruppen en fristående ordlista. I grupp 1 (experimentgrupp) ingick totalt 31 deltagare (M = 23 år, SD = 3 år) varav 18 kvinnor (58.1%) och 13 män (41.9%). I grupp 2 (kontrollgrupp) ingick totalt 33 deltagare (M = 29 år, SD = 7år) varav 24 kvinnor (72.7%) och 9 män (27.3%). Data behandlades med deskriptiv statistik, oberoende t-test och envägs-ANOVA.

Resultatet visade att fler fristående ord (M = 9.03, SD = 2.81) återkallades än associativa ord (M = 7.94, SD = 2.18). Gällande könsskillnader visade resultatet att kvinnor (58.1%) återkallade fler ord än män (41.9%). Slutligen visade resultaten att 35.5% av deltagarna i grupp 1 fabulerade det kritiska ordet "svart". Könen var lika benägna till att fabulera det kritiska ordet. Resultaten från könsskillnader var inte i linje med tidigare forskning, samtidigt som resultaten fann likheter med andra studier gällande fabulering av det kritiska ordet.

In the present study, inspiration was taken from the Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm (DRM). In a memory experiment, according to the DRM paradigm, differences in recall of the number of words presented are studied in the form of a list; so-called associated words (e.g. associations with the word "black") and so-called stand-alone words. The associated word, so-called the critical word black, was never presented to the experimental participants.

Three questions were answered: (a) Are associative words easier to recall than stand-alone words? (b) How does the memory capacity differ between men and women regardless of group? (c) How many of the participants from the experimental group can formulate the critical word?

An experimental design was applied in the study, with an experimental group and a control group studying a total of fifteen words. The experimental group studied an associative glossary and the control group an independent glossary. Group 1 (experimental group) included a total of 31 participants (M = 23 years, SD = 3 years), of which 18 women (58.1%) and 13 men (41.9%). Group 2 (control group) included a total of 33 participants (M = 29 years, SD = 7 years), of which 24 women (72.7%) and 9 men (27.3%). Data was treated with descriptive statistics, independent t-tests and one-way ANOVA.

The results showed that more stand-alone words (M = 9.03, SD = 2.81) were recalled than associative words (M = 7.94, SD = 2.18). With regard to gender differences, the result showed that women (58.1%) recalled more words than men (41.9%). Finally, the results showed that 35.5% of the participants in group 1 fabricated the critical word "black". Gender equally inclined to formulate the critical word. The results of gender differences were not in line with previous research, while the results found similarities with other studies on the fabrication of the critical word.