Disputed memories of twins: how ordinary are they?

Abstract

Two studies reported that twins may dispute ownership of autobiographical experiences. One observation made in both studies was that the events that were disputed by the twins were rather ordinary events. In the present study, we tested the idea that the disputed memories are Such ordinary and mundane events. A brief narrative description of disputed and nondisputed events that were provided by participants in the Ikier, Tekcan, Gulgoz, and Kuntay (2003) study was given to an independent sample of participants who were asked to rate (a) the ordinariness of the event, given the age and sex of the protagonist of the event and (b) the likelihood that the event would have happened to them. Results showed that disputed memories were rated as more mundane than nondisputed personal memories. Moreover, a substantial portion of the disputed memories from the Ikier et al. study were for events that our subjects reported to have also experienced. These findings are discussed in the context of cognitive processes contributing to formation of false memories.