Why do we form false memories?

Most of us like to believe we have a good memory. Regardless of the times we forgot where our keys were, our wedding anniversary, or the phone number of that special someone, whether when it comes to important things, such as a childhood event, our memories Is it accurate and reliable?

Recent studies have demonstrated how fragile human memory is. It's easy to make mistakes, and small hints can trigger false memories. People with outstanding memories can still create their own memories without even realizing it.

Research

Sometimes it is the old memories that hinder or alter our new ones. (Illustration).

In a famous 1995 experiment, memory expert Elizabeth Loftus made 25% of participants believe a false memory that they had been lost in a mall as children. Another study in 2002 found that half of the participants were led and led to believe that they had been in a hot air balloon as a child by showing them fake pictures of evidence.

Although these false memories mostly revolve around minor events and have little consequence, they can sometimes have serious consequences. For example, a false memory relayed in a criminal statement could cause the law to wrongly convict an innocent person. So why do these incorrect memories form?

Incorrect perception

Human perception is not perfect. Sometimes we see things that aren't there and miss the obvious right in front of us. In many cases, false memories form because the information was not encoded correctly in the first place. For example, a person may witness an accident but not have a clear view of everything that happened.

Recounting events that happened can be difficult or even impossible because they don't actually witness all the details. One's mind can fill in 'gaps' by forming memories that didn't actually happen.

Deductive

In other cases, old memories and experiences come into conflict with newer information. Sometimes it is the old memories that hinder or alter our new ones. And in other situations, new information can make it difficult for us to remember previously stored information. When we put old information together, sometimes there are holes in our memory.

Our minds try to fill in the gaps, often with current knowledge as well as beliefs or expectations.

For example, people can clearly remember where they were and what they did during the September 11 terrorist attacks. Although you may feel that your memory of the event is fairly accurate, it is very likely that a flashback is possible. Your memory has been affected by news and stories of the attacks that followed.

This new information competes with your existing memories of the event or fills in the missing information.

Sometimes strong emotions can make an experience more memorable. (Photo: Henry Kunjumon | Dribbble).

Feeling

If you've ever tried to recall the details of an emotional event (e.g., an argument, an accident, an emergency), you'll probably realize that emotions can destroy your memory. Sometimes strong emotions can make an experience more memorable, but sometimes they can lead to false or unreliable memories.

Researchers have shown that humans tend to remember events associated with emotions more strongly, but the details of such memories are often questioned. Recounting important events can also lead to false beliefs about the accuracy of memory.

Wrong information

Sometimes correct information is mixed with misinformation that distorts our memory of events. Loftus has been studying false memories since the 1970s, and her work has shown the serious consequences this information can have on memory. Participants in her study were shown images of a traffic accident.

When asked about the event after viewing the photo, the interviewer asked leading questions or misinformed. Then, when testing participants' memories of the accident, those who were given false information were more likely to have false memories of the event.

The potentially serious impact of this disinformation effect can be easily seen in criminal justice where misinformation leads to the difference between life and death. Brainerd and Reyna (2005) suggest that false recollections during interrogation are the leading cause of false convictions.

Distributing wrong information

Have you ever mixed the details of one story with the details of another? For example, when you tell a friend about a recent vacation, you may mistakenly relate an incident that happened on a vacation several years ago.

This is an example of how misallocation of information can form false memories. This may include combining elements of different events into a cohesive story, misremembering where you gathered a particular piece of information, or even recalling imaginary events from the past. childhood and believe that they are real.

Searching is not clear

When forming a memory, we don't always focus on the actual details, but instead, we tend to recall an overall impression of what happened. The theory of ambiguous traces suggests that sometimes we make intact traces of events and other times just remember the main ideas. Intact traces are based on real events as they really happened, while gist memory focuses on our interpretation of events.

Sometimes the way we interpret information does not accurately reflect what really happened. Biased interpretations of events can lead to false memories of early events.