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Implant False Memory Literature Review

Decent Essays

Strategies and Techniques Used to Implant False Memories
Memories are vital components in an individual’s life because they give people a sense of identity. As individuals, we create memories throughout our everyday lives. Some memories may positively affect people, while others may negatively affect people. Although it may seem logical to think that memories are always reliable and accurate, a plethora of research has indicated that memories can be changed and created. The notion that memories should be reliable is prevalent in the judicial system when witnesses provide accounts of events because it is assumed that their memory statements are generally accurate (Shaw & Porter, 2015). Roedieger III and McDermott (1995) defined false memories as “remembering events that never happened, or remembering them quite differently from the way they happened” (pg 803). Many people are aware that memory can fade and temporarily be unavailable. Sometimes false memories can be so compelling that they seem as accurate as true memories (Loftus, 2003). This literature review focuses on strategies and false memory paradigms utilized to create and implant false memories.

Misinformation Effect
The misinformation effect became prevalent in psychology during the 1970s when Elizabeth Loftus conducted research showing that individuals can form memories of events that never transpired by having events suggested to them (Leding, 2009). The customary misinformation paradigm

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