A Reflection On Memory Malleability

It is said that there are many different versions to a story. There is one persons story, then there is an other person’s story, and then, there is the truth. “Our memories change each time they are recalled. What we recall is only a facsimile of things gone by.” Dobrin, Arthur. "Your Memory Isn't What You Think It Is." (online magazine). Psychology Today. July 16, 2013. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/am-i-right/201307/your-memory-isnt-what-you-think-it-is. Every time a story is told, it changes. From Disney movies to books, to what we tell our friends and colleagues. Sometimes the different sides to the story challenge the

Memory is one of the most critical parts of cognition. It is important because it is involved in almost every aspect of cognition including problem solving, decision making, attention, and perception. Because of this importance, people rely on one’s memory to make important decisions. The value of one’s memory in this society is so high that it is used as evidence to either save one’s life or kill one’s life during murder trials. But as many of the cognitive psychologists know, human’s memory can cause many errors. One of these errors is false memory which is either remembering events that never happened or remembering events differently from the actual event. This finding of false memory raised big interests among psychologists and

False memories have been studied science the early 1990’s because they have become controversial topic. In the beginning they was no thought that your memory would be unfaithful and that if you had a memory that you “recovered” it had to be true because your memory couldn’t fail you. Could it? Well one woman’s disbelief caused her, Susan Clancy, who was a Harvard University graduate student at the time decided that while everyone else was arguing over the accuracy of recovered memories, she would create a study on them (Grierson 1). Clancy first started out by interviewing her subjects that said to have recovered memories of abuse after they had gone through therapy. The stories were horrifying but she was brought up to believe that what they were telling her was true. But, soon after she found herself wondering if they had even really went through these events that they “recovered”. When she spoke out against the recovered memory patients saying that they couldn’t of forgotten such a traumatic memory and that they had created a false memory by going to the therapy the hate mail started coming in (Grierson 3). Throughout this time many other scientists started to do more and more research on false memories and most of the studies have concluded with the same information. “The false memory researchers point to other research showing that traumatic events are normally remembered all too well. They argue that

False memory, second to forgetting, is one of the two fundamental types of deformation in episodic memory (Holliday, Brainerd & Reyna, 2010). Simply stated, false memory is the propensity to account normal occurrences as being a fraction of a key experience that in actuality was not an element of that experience (Holliday, Brainerd & Reyna). False memories are something nearly everyone experience. Furthermore, false memory is defined as placed together, constructed representations of mental schemas that are incorrect (Solso, MacLin & MacLin, 2008). Individuals do not intentionally fabricate their memory. However, perceptual and social factors are a few things that a responsible for manipulating memory (Solso, MacLin & MacLin, 2008).

Introduction Memory is the tool we have a tendency to use to find out what has happened or assume when repeated. Memory is the power of retentive and recalling past experiences. We have a tendency to reassure ourselves that our reminiscences are correct and precise. Many of us believe that they'd be ready to keep in mind something from the event, and therefore the completely different options of things. Yet, people don’t notice the very fact that the more you're thinking that a few state of affairs the additional seemingly the story can change, and be altered without you knowing it.

Lightbulb memories are vivid long-lasting memories of a personal circumstance when that person learns of a shocking event. The causes of these vivid memories are most due to intense emotions felt when they heard the news, and the fact that lightbulb memories are often told and retold. However, lightbulb memories do become more and more inaccurate with time. People add or remove information to their story without even realizing it. When listening to someone talk about their 9/11 experience, it is almost impossible not to notice the amount of detail. People could recall exactly where they were, even what they eat for breakfast (a task many people find difficult even if only asked what they ate for breakfast

As mentioned earlier, for example, the images of the second plane flying into the building will surely stay with me; however, smaller details of the incident, which have become generalized over the years, are not nearly as clear or in order like they were on the day they happened. This is not at all surprising, since according to Perina (2002), flashbulb memories “do, in fact, degrade over a short period of time” (para. 1). The extent to which these events fade or change in our thoughts can vary in degree, and is generally believed to be directly proportionate to a person’s level of involvement in the events that occurred.

The first study had resulted in the opposite of what l would assume would only support the theory of false memories being instilled into subjects. In addition, I also noticed how the wording of certain questions, may have had an influence on whether or not subjects recalled events that never happened. It was only when participants were being told to recall certain events, rather than being asked, that they were allowed room to expand their imagination, thus going as far as to vividly describe an event that never occurred. The second study divided the theory of the fabrication of memories, and suggested that some people may be immune to believing false memories. What l found to be interesting about the second study, was that researchers divided their subjects into two groups, with one of their groups being individuals with a highly superior autobiographical memory - yet, investigators were still able to

Nearly everyone possesses a memory that they wish they could change, whether they make the wrong decision, or just commit some embarrassing action. Although these memories typically hold little significance on daily life, severe emotional recollections truly shape one’s life, and impact those around he/she. To rewrite a memory, one can either remove painful emotions, or increase the amount of emotions, depending on which option creates a bigger and more beneficial effect. In “The Glass House,” “Partial Recall,” and The Things They Carried, Chris Adrian, Michael Specter, and Tim O’Brien argue that rewriting a memory improves the recollection and creates a more impactful memory.

Memory does not work like a video camera, smoothly recording every detail. Instead, memory is more of a constructive process. We remember the details that we find most important and relevant. Due to the reconstructive nature of memory, the assimilation of old and new information has the ability to cause vulnerable memories to become distorted. This is also known as the misinformation effect (Loftus, 1997). It is not uncommon for individuals to fill in memory gaps with what they assume they must have experienced. We not only distort memories for events that we have observed, but, we may also have false memories for events that never occurred at all. False memories are “often created by combing actual memories with suggestions received from

Before reviewing the accuracy of flashbulb memory, it is important to consider that not all research supports Brown and Kulik’s description of flashbulb memories as highly accurate (1977). For instance, Talarico and Rubin compared the consistency of September 11 terrorist attacks’ flashbulb memories with everyday memories and found no difference - with equal amounts decay in both cases (2003). However,

How can a human forget to turn the lights off when they leave the house, but remember exactly where they were when JFK was assassinated? The answer to this phenomenon has long been researched and the answer is a term referred to as flashbulb memories, which can be defined as a detailed and vivid memory that is stored on one occasion and retained for a lifetime (Schachter, Gilbert, Wegner, & Nock, 2015). These memories can be composed of insignificant but vivid details about the situation in which the news was received (Demiray & Freund, 2015). Flash bulb memories are believed to encompass various memories including positive and negative events that have affected entire nations or just one individual, and have correlation with age, proximity, and importance.

Recollections of vivid autobiographical episodic memories formed when an individual experiences intense emotions, generating from a surprising public event defines Flashbulb memories (FBMs). Permanent and consistent remembrances processed cognitively and stored as explicit recollections in long term memory are additional features of FBMs (Goldstein, 2014). Brown & Kulik (1977) first proposed this phenomenon and argued FBMs are resistant to change like photographs. The ongoing debate over the process of cognition in relation to storing and recalling FBMs led numerous researchers to advance their understanding of the mental processing of FBMs and to evaluate the impact emotions have on memories. This paper discusses the pioneer investigation and findings from Brown & Kulik’s 1977. It further explores debates opposing their unique theory of FBMs and the apparent inadequacies of their conclusions. Additionally, this paper examines plausible hypotheses from researchers for the formation of FBMs like rehearsal of events and the inconsistencies of FBMs, their distortions and the decay FBMs experience over time. It then evaluates a contemporary study on FBMs and the necessity for future studies to develop a method to measure FBMs. This is imperative in order to gain a deeper understanding of the influences emotions have on shaping, processing and storing FBMs cognitively and consequently how it impacts on our daily lives.

Memory facilitates necessary functions in daily life activities, but it is not a perfect mechanism in operation. Goldstein (2011) states that memory is, “…the process involved in retaining, retrieving, and using information about stimuli, images, events, ideas, and skills after the original information is no longer present” (p.116). There are many adaptive functions within the complexities of the human memory system and the interlinked constructs between each function leave room for doubt in the accuracy of recollection. Study of the human mind has opened avenues of discovery on the inner workings of our brains and the resulting knowledge suggests that humans are prone to creating false memories and even remembering things that never actually happened. A great deal of information has been written explaining the nature of memory errors and within the following pages a real-life case offers a glimpse into how recall distortions and memory errors can wield unpleasant consequences. Memory errors can be avoided with a significant effort, but the truth remains that no one is perfect and memories are subject to individual bias.

There is also evidence against Flashbulb memories such as firstly it cannot be proved whether the participants are telling the truth or lying about an event since everyone's interpretation of where they were etc will be different, so it cannot be proved whether it is a flashbulb memory or just a memory. Secondly it is also difficult to prove how accurate flashbulb memories are since they all have different degrees of significance to people too so certain people will remember less or more and others will forget parts of the memory where as others will not. Thirdly with large events such as