Memory Of Memory And Memory

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).

Memory is the process of encoding, storing and retrieving information in the brain. It plays an import role in our daily life. Without memory, we cannot reserve past experience, learn new things and plan for the future. Human memory is usually analogous to computer memory. While unlike computer memory, human memory is a cognitive system. It does not encode and store everything correctly as we want. As suggested by Zimbardo, Johnson and Weber (2006), human memory takes information and selectively converts it into meaningful patterns. When remembering, we reconstruct the incident as we think it was (p. 263). Sometimes our memory performance is incredibly accurate and reliable. But errors and mistakes are more commonly happen, because we do

Memory typically seen as a stable, static phenomenon much like a recording of events in one’s life. If this were the case, memory retrieval would be reproductive meaning memory recall would be accurate and memorisation would occur as a result of rote learning. This is because recall would be akin to reliving a moment as if it were going back and watching a film play out again. However, this is not the case. There is evidence that demonstrates that memory isn’t reproductive but rather reconstructive. Due to memory being an active process rather than an accurate reproductive process, interference can cause false memories to be implanted. For example, In Loftus’s study into false memory, 45 participants were asked to watch a video of a car crash than answer questions about the speed at which the cars were travelling. Loftus and Palmer discovered that speed estimations from the participants depended on the wording of the questions. Those asked how fast the cars smashed into one another had the highest speed estimation of 40.8 mph while those asked how fast they contacted one another estimated the lowest speed of 31.8mph. Furthermore, some participants in the smashed condition recalled glass shattering when such a thing had not occurred in the presented video. This clearly shows that memory is not reproductive and as a result, false memories can be

Memory is defined as “the mental capacity to encode, store, and retrieve information” (American Psychological Association, 2002). It is a part of the means by which humans function. The process of forming and recalling memories involves various complex neurological processes and disruptions to these processes can result in loss of memory or the inability to form new memories. Amnesia is a memory disorder, in which, due to trauma or a head injury, certain parts of the memory is inaccessible. The two main types of amnesia are anterograde amnesia and retrograde amnesia. Anterograde amnesia refers to the inability to create new memories (Mastin, 2010). “Retrograde

One can never forget their first kindergarten field trip, or the way your grandma’s house smells, your favorite song, or your first love, but how do we store and remember so many memories throughout our lifespan, in our brain? A memory is a “faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information”, but how? Memories are stored in direct braincells and brain structures, which allow us to remember our memories. Some memories can depend on one single molecule for their life long remembrance, and replay of episodes. Memories are stored in two ways, short term memory and long-term memory. These three different stages of memory allow us to take in and handle each little thing we learn in just one day. They keep us sane.

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

Neurobiological studies show that both suppression and recall and the creation of false memories are possible. (Kandel, 1994) In this paper both sides of the debate will be analyzed and evaluated.

To start, our minds can affect how memories are stored through perception. Your emotions can also be a factor in how you remember things, Cheryl Clark states that memories “include the feelings you have when you saw something.” So when trying to remember something your memory can be distorted based on the emotion you were feeling at the time of the event. Dr. Loftus also states that “Even if we are careful observers and take in a picture of some object or experience, it does

Hippocampus is a small, curved region, which exists in both hemispheres of the brain and plays a vital role in emotions, learning and acquisition of new information. It also contributes majorly to long term memory, which is permanent information stored in the brain. Although long term memory is the last information that can be forgotten, its impairment has become very common nowadays. The dysfunction is exemplified by many neurological disorders such as amnesia. There are two types of amnesia, anterograde and retrograde. Anterograde amnesia is inability in forming new information, while retrograde refers to the loss of the past memory. As suggested by Cipolotti and Bird (2006), hippocampus’s lesions are

Some scientists believe that parts of long term memory are permanent while others will eventually weaken over time. (3) Long term memory can be divided into three sections: procedural memory, declarative memory, and remote memory. Procedural memory includes motor skills such as learning how to ride a bike or how to drive a car. "Such memories are slow to acquire but more resistant to change or loss." (4) Declarative memory is used to remember facts, such as names, dates and places. It is easy to learn but also easy to lose. Finally there is episodic memory, which is the record of events that a person stores throughout his or her experience. Recent studies show that these events, as soon as they occur, are sent to a temporary part of the brain called the hippocampus, and that over time they are moved to the neocortex for permanent storage. (5).

There are two prominent distortions of the episodic memory system: forgetting and the false memory effect. False memory is the propensity to report an event as part of an episodic experience that was not actually present (Holliday, Brainerd, & Reyna, 2011). Several theories give an explanation for this effect, but the most prominent one is the fuzzy trace theory,

The hippocampus is the region of the brain which correlated to memories in specific, long term memory. This region forms part of the limbo system which is associated with any type of emotional responses. Therefore the act of making memories and anything related to the memory is in correlations and affected by emotions. In 1957 the memory hypothesis was supported by the removal of a hippocampus which resulted in the loss to make any new memories specifically declarative memories. The declarative memory is the memory of facts and events and can refer back to the stores information that can be consciously recalled.

The demonstration of the misinformation shows that people form false memories and insert misleading details after receiving wrong information after an event, or after repeatedly imagining and rehearsing memories that never occurred. When we reassemble a memory during retrieval, we may attribute it to the wrong source and perform an action referred to as source amnesia. Source amnesia may help explain feelings such as believing something has happened before (déjà vu). Real-seeming memories feel like they are correct memories and are as persistent as real ones, are false, altered memories due to processes such as the aforementioned misinformation, imagination, and source amnesia.

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

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.