Is human memory for the details of past events reliably accurate?

Human memory has been used by human as a tool to learn and think which includes social interactions, life management as well as problem solving (Loftus and Palmer 1974). Memory can be defined as the retention of information over time. Although memory is an instrument human use everyday, contemporary psychological scrutiny displayed that human memory is not a visionary reconstruction of earlier occasions making it less reliable compared to what an individual would alleged at the first place. In this paper it will be argued that human memory for past events are often influenced by other factors which can lead to inaccurate informations received. This argument is supported from studies made by Loftus and Palmer (1974), who found that human memory is not perfect since false memories can be constructed and manipulated using misleading particulars which subsequently produced deformity of memory and promote to wrong reminiscence. Evidence for this argument also can be seen from studies made by Levinger and Clark (1961), who found that human memory is not reliably accurate since false memory can be formed due to repression that may happen to an individual.

This paper will firstly scrutinize through Loftus and Palmer’s (1974) research that was aimed to prove whether false memories can be produced if there is misleading post-event particulars such as the phrasing of leading question. In the research, 150 students were exposed to a clip showing a car accident event and in this case independent measures outline was applied. Students were then divided into 3 teams which contain 50 person per group. The third team acts as a controlled team thus they wasn’t asked to make a reckoning on the acceleration of cars in the collision while the first o...

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...elying on the time, individual, subject and other factors. These findings have technically made a vital contribution to us. For instance, juries in judiciary of law usually take Eyewitness Testimony (EWT) really solemn. However, the usage of DNA technology recently has substantiated what some psychologists have alleged for a quite long periods that eyewitnesses can be incorrect. Although memories can be astonishingly true over long periods of time, it tends to be reconstructive rather than reproductive. Memory is able to compose broad idea of previous events, however it is much more simplified and is very biased and idiosyncratic among human beings. For that reason, we should be conscious of the memory subjectivity, particularly when we count on its authenticity and precision when scripting a history, in eyewitness testimonies or even scripting a memoirs or journal.