False Memory Research Papers

The study of creation of false memories has been a topic of interest since the 1930s when Bartlett (1932) conducted the first experiment on the topic. Though the results of this experiment were never replicated, they contributed greatly to research by distinguishing between reproductive and reconstructive memory (Bartlett 1932 as cited in Roediger & McDermott, 1995). Reproductive memory refers to accurate production of material from memory and is assumed to be associated with remembering simplified materials (e.g., lists). Reconstructive memory emphasizes the active process of filling in missing elements while remembering and is associated with materials rich in meaning (e.g., stories).

Another argument against the Memory Theory involves it’s circular nature if fake memories are implanted within a person who did not actually experience what the memories are about, and only ‘seems to remember’, via brainwashing for example.

Imagination can also create a false memory of an occurrence that never happened. Loftus and her colleagues requested the participant to record on a scale the possibility of the forty events named occurred in their childhood. After two weeks, they were allowed to imagine some of the occurrences they had said never happened in their childhood. They were asked to rate the events again. Individuals, who participated in the imagining test, became convinced that the incident happened (Loftus 75).

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

On very rare occasions false memories can be harmful to someone and the people around them. In some cases children can create a false memory that they were touched inappropriately because they misinterpret things. The child might remember being touched by a caretaker, but excludes the details that it was to change a diaper or to change clothes because they soiled them. These events could create legal cases and could ruin someone's life, all because of a false memory. Children are very susceptible to false memories because the can be influenced very easily by the people around them. This type of influence can affect someone because the child's testimony could very well be affected by the bias unknowingly planted in them. A false memory can affect an adult's life as well, an example of this could be rape or abuse that they believe occurred and because of it

Moreover, research also examined the effects of age on participants in regards to the onset of false memory. With materials and testing procedures that have been repeatedly found to produce higher levels of false memory, older children are more susceptible to generating false memories than younger children (Holliday, Brainerd & Reyna, 2010). This is particularly realistic in the DRM lists (Holliday, Brainerd &

Memory is a cognitive function of the brain that is often taken for granted. Memory may have many purposes, but most importantly it is essentially a record of an entire life span. From this perspective memory is the most important aspect of consciousness. Unfortunately, through formal experimentation it has been shown that memory is fairly inaccurate, inconsistent, and often influenced by our own experiences as well as the bias of others. Memory is not only affected during an observed event, but there are instances where memory can be influenced after an event as well. There are also instances where memory can be affected retroactively due to personal experiences and biases. Incorrectly recalling the memories of one’s life is usually not

The area of cognitive psychology that this article focuses on, is the impact that cognitive interviews have on false memories and beliefs. A false memory appears when a person recalls memories of events that did not actually happen to him or her. Nonetheless, a study conducted by S.J. Sherman and M.B. Powell, consisted of exposing people to false events using instructions taken from a cognitive interview, a method of interviewing and questioning people about events they may have witnessed (Sharman et al., 2013). In this specific study, researchers examined the integration that cognitive interviews may have on making participants feel more confident towards the validity of their childhood experience, regardless or not whether it actually happened

In recent years there has been a hot debate between "repressed" vs. "false" memories. Neurobiological studies show that both suppression and recall and the creation of false memories are possible. This paper evaluates the evidence but forth by both sides of the controversy and concludes that both are feasible and separate phenomenon, which occur at significant rates in our society.

In November of 2014, Julia Shaw and Stephan Porter published a research article which further explored the generation of false memories related to crime. The purpose of this study was to corroborate a theory researchers have long suspected, which maintains the possibility to intentionally generate false memories within an individual through the use of influential tactics in a controlled setting. By attempting to generate false memories within two independent groups of participants, researchers were able to compare the success of the interviewer to induce false memories in both groups.

The first study was performed by Dr. Madison. Madison’s approach was to have parents document the food intake of the children for a week. This experiment was performed in a naturalistic setting. This meant that Madison very cautiously observes and archives some behavior (food intake), in its natural setting while interfering as little as possible with the subjects

False memories have been the subject of many studies since Deese (1959) investigated their effects.

In the first follow-up interview, roughly eighteen percent remembered the false event and in the second follow-up, twenty-five percent remembered the false event (Hyman, Husband, & Billing 1995). As this study indicates, memories are more susceptible to modification when the passage of time allows the original memory to fade. Being lost, however, is not the same as being abused. Another crucial component involved in the formation of false memories is the imagination inflation. Loftus (1997) found that the more often an individual imagined an unperformed action, the more likely they were to later on remember having performed it.

In class we watched how social pressures could influence how others perceive a shared memory. The study looked at how friends can influence misinformation that someone receives. In the study, they had participants watch a video and then take a survey, then a few days later take the survey again while they were mapping the brain. While mapping their brain, researchers asked a survey question and also showed answers the other participants selected (verifying the misinformation). About 70% of the participants sided with the misinformation, then the participants were tested a third time a few weeks later to see if the new misinformation actually became part of the memory or if it only affected the participant for a short time. Researchers found that it actually changed the memory and they remembered the misinformation.

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.