This happens quite a lot, because human memories are imperfect. As much as we all like to think we can trust our own minds, memories can be altered over time. Elizabeth F. Loftus is a researcher and professor of cognitive psychology and human memory. She is well known in the field for her work on the creation and nature of false memories, and how people can be influenced by information after an event has happened, event consulting or providing expert witness testimony for hundreds of court cases.
Her research has shown how memories can be distorted. For example, in one study, subjects were shown videos of simulated crimes or accidents , then were afterwards made to believe the car in the accident went through a stop sign instead of a yield sign, or the thief running from the scene of the crime had curly hair instead of straight hair.
Could you implant entire false memories into the minds of people for things that never happened? The answer was yes. Loftus and other researchers such as Julia Shaw have successfully planted memories into the minds of otherwise healthy people. Salvador Dali famously said: "The difference between false memories and true ones is the same as for jewels: it is always the false ones that look the most real, the most brilliant.
This could help explain why we are so quick to believe false accounts of something that happened. A farmer's son was stopped and accused of the murder, and after being questioned by the police he confessed to killing the woman — despite having an alibi.
He wrote that on every telling of the young man's story, it became more absurd and contradictory — a bit like his imagination was running away with the story, but he couldn't tell he was making it all up.
It would be decades until the idea of false memories and memory distortion would be studied properly, and considered to be able to influence confessions. Nowadays, it is quite well understood that false confessions happen under intense interrogation for crimes, like murder. This is what a lot of people think happened in the Netflix series "Making a Murderer," for instance.
Whether a false confession involves someone really believing they committed a crime, or whether they just want the interrogation to end is determined on a case-by-case basis. But Loftus said that unless you have reason to suspect somebody's memory is distorted, then there's no way you would be able to tell they are recounting a false memory just by listening to them.
Neuroscientists have looked at brain scans of people having real memories and false memories to see if there's a difference. In eyewitness testimony, for example, the length of time between the incident and being interviewed about the event plays a role in how suggestible people are to false memory.
If interviewed immediately after an event, when the details are still vivid, people are less likely to be influenced by misinformation. If, however, an interview is delayed for a period of time, people are more likely to be affected by potential false information.
While it might be difficult for many people to believe, everyone has false memories. Our memories are generally not as reliable as we think and false memories can form quite easily, even among people who typically have very good memories. Ever wonder what your personality type means? Sign up to find out more in our Healthy Mind newsletter.
Brainerd, CJ. The Science of False Memory. New York: Oxford University Press; Johnson, MK. False Memories, Psychology of. Wright Ed. Loftus, EF. Creating False Memories. Scientific American. The Formation of False Memories. Psychiatric Annals. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for VerywellMind.
At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page. Everyone has them. They range from small and trivial, like where you swear you put your keys last night, to significant, like how an accident happened or what you saw during a crime. False memories can happen to anyone. Some people may be more likely to experience them. Researchers say eating dark chocolate can change your brain wave frequency, providing benefits in memory improvement and stress reduction.
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Many false memories involve confusing or mixing fragments of memory events, some of which may have happened at different times but which are remembered as occurring together. Many false memories involve an error in source memory.
Some involve treating dreams as if they were playbacks of real experiences. Still other false memories are believed to be the result of the prodding, leading, and suggestions of therapists and counselors. Finally, Dr. Elizabeth Loftus has shown not only that it is possible to implant false memories, but that it is relatively easy to do so Loftus, A memory of your mother throwing a glass of milk on your father when in fact it was your father who threw the milk is a false memory based upon an actual experience.
You may remember the event vividly and be able to "see" the action clearly, but only corroboration by those present can determine whether your memory of the event is accurate.
Distortions such as switching the roles of people in one's memory are quite common. Some distortions are quite dramatic, such as the following examples of false memories due to confusion about the source of the memory.
A woman accused memory expert Dr. Donald Thompson of having raped her. Thompson was doing a live interview for a television program just before the rape occurred. The woman had seen the program and "apparently confused her memory of him from the television screen with her memory of the rapist" Schacter, , Jean Piaget, the great child psychologist, claimed that his earliest memory was of nearly being kidnapped at the age of 2.
He remembered details such as sitting in his baby carriage, watching the nurse defend herself against the kidnapper, scratches on the nurse's face, and a police officer with a short cloak and a white baton chasing the kidnapper away. The story was reinforced by the nurse and the family and others who had heard the story.
Piaget was convinced that he remembered the event. However, it never happened. Thirteen years after the alleged kidnapping attempt, Piaget's former nurse wrote to his parents to confess that she had made up the entire story. Piaget later wrote: "I therefore must have heard, as a child, the account of this story
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