Picture versus word: Moderator effects on age-related differences in false memories depend on stimulus type.

Abstract

A recent meta-analysis by Huan et al. (2026) revealed that the aging increase in false memory was significantly influenced by some moderators (e.g., stimulus type, paradigm, and retention interval) but not others (e.g., test format and list length). The present study reanalyzed the data reported by Huan et al. using a series of new moderator analyses, which were motivated by the facts that some moderator effects reported by Huan et al. are (a) inconsistent with the prior literature and (b) potentially confounded with stimulus type (pictures vs. words). Whereas the earlier meta-analysis relied on univariate meta-regressions, we conducted multivariable meta-regressions and subgroup analyses to reexamine the moderators of interest after controlling for stimulus type. Our results showed that the effects of multiple moderators depend on stimulus type: The moderating effects of paradigm and retention interval were nonsignificant when stimulus type was controlled, whereas the moderating effects of test format and list length were significant with word stimuli but not with picture stimuli. These findings highlight the importance of treating picture and word stimuli differently when studying developmental trends in false memory. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).