A Comparative Study of Memory Distortion over Time in Men and Women

This longitudinal study compares memory distortion after a six-month delay in adult men and women. Usingstandardized narrative and visual stimuli, immediate recall and 6-month delayed recall were assessed in acommunity sample (N = 220; 110 men, 110 women). Memory distortion was operationalized as commission errors(false details), omission rate, and gist-based reconstruction. Hypothetical results indicate an increase in distortionover six months in both sexes, with men showing larger increases in commission errors (∆ = +16%) compared towomen (∆ = +10%). Implications for eyewitness testimony, clinical memory assessment, and theories of genderdifferences in memory reconstruction are discussed.Keywords: memory distortion, forgetting, reconstruction, long-term memory, sex differences, six-month follow-up