False Memory

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Recommended: Misinformation on a false memory

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). Researchers argue that some recalled memories of an individual’s past are artificial (Solso, MacLin & MacLin, 2008). The reason researchers suggest for these fabricated representations of the past are created by therapeutic techniques possibly to gratify the therapist (Solso, MacLin & MacLin, 2008).

A person’s memory of particular life events are swayed by the correlated events that pursue them (Zaragoza, Mitchell, Payment & Drivdahl, 2011). For instance, after a tragic event, an individual is more susceptible to things surrounding them. Unintentionally, things are being stored into memory that may or may not be factual or related to the specific event. In efforts to explain false memories, researchers developed a technique called “lost in the mall”. In the “lost in the mall” technique study, participants were provided with diminutive descriptions of events that took place during their childhood, as well as, a false account of the participant being lost in the mall during childhood (Solso, ...

... middle of paper ...

...ut real-life occurrences unintentionally. Whether or not these memories can be repressed or reversed is still under assessment.

Works Cited

Dehon,H., Laroi, F., & Van der Linder, M. (2011). The Influence of Encoding Style on the Production of False Memories in the DRM Paradigm: New Insights on Individual Differences in False Memory Susceptibility? Personality and Individual Differences, 50(1), 583-587.

Holliday, R., Brainerd, C., & Reyna, V. (2010). Developmental Reversals in False Memory: Now You See Them, Now You Don’t! Developmental Psychology, 47(2), 442-449.

Solso, R., MacLin, O., & MacLin, K. (2008). Cognitive Psychology (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Learning Solutions.

Zaragoza, M., Mitchell, K., Payment, K., & Drivdahl, S. (2011). False Memories for Suggestions: The Impact of Conceptual Elaboration. Journal of Memory and Language, 64(1), 18-31.

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