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Essays on false memories
Essays on false memories
Strength/weaknesses of case study of false memories
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Inaccurate memories can happen to anyone even when they believe it truly happened. One might think that there is only one type of memory but that it not the case. When Jim thinks that he remembers something but actually does not, the memory he thinks he remembers would be categorized under flashbulb memories. Usually, it is a flashbulb memory of a childhood experience. These memories are actually very similar to regular memories.
Flashbulb memories are emotional memories that seem so vivid that people appear to recount them in extraordinary vivid detail. They are just like other memories, but somewhat more intense because there is an emotional connection to it. Psychologist have found that flashbulb memories are actually just like ordinary
memories in which we tend to forget or change some things over time. In this case, Jim could describe his parents winning the lottery very detailed, knowing where he was and what he was doing. One is told of Jim’s later recollection of this event is actually wrong. This means that his flashbulb memory could actually be described as a phantom flashbulb memory. Several studies have been done which show that flashbulb memories could be false, and several had major distortions. Research has shown that flashbulb memories change over time, and that one’s memory is not like a video recorder. Jim’s memory was a false memory that is considered a flashbulb memory. Some flashbulb memories are real, but many others tend to be fake. Sometimes a person can be told of a memory in their childhood and the person whom the story is about will believe it. Our mind is a crazy place where one’s memories come and go, but that is the uniqueness of memories.
Our memory is made up of many different types of memories; episodic, semantic, and implicit. Episodic memory is the remembrance of a certain event. An example of this
The special mechanism approach to flashlight memories was also introduced by R. Brown & Kulik, it stipulates that flashbulb memories are virtually literal representations of the what, how, and where of the original event (Schwartz, 2013). This mechanism works by encoding what happened in great detail. As a result, the flashbulb memory will be very strong and will remain in the memory (Schwartz, 2013). Strong emotions are the core of special mechanisms. To further explain, distinctiveness may be correlated with the critical triggering condition, experiences that produce strong emotional reactions may tend to be more distinctive than experiences that do not (Winograd & Nei...
Have you ever experienced an event that was so significant to you that you felt as if your memory was taking a photograph, keeping the memory implanted in your brain for the rest of your life? This is a prime example of flashbulb memory. Flashbulb memory is a term that pertains to a person’s memory of hearing about extremely shocking events (Goldstein, 2011, p. 209). Flashbulb memory is not the memory for the event itself, but it’s the memory of how the person heard about the specific event (Goldstein, 2011, p. 209). This means that a flashbulb memory includes where you were and what you were doing when you found out about a tragic event (Goldstein, 2011, p. 209). Some key attributes of flashbulb memories are that they are both remembered for long periods of time and are exceedingly vivid (Goldstein, 2011, p. 209). A great way to describe flashbulb memories is to compare them to a photo that never fades, proving how relevant these memories are to those who have them (Goldstein, 2011, p. 209).
Steffens, M., & Mecklenbräuker, S. (2007). False memories: Phenomena, theories, and implications. Zeitschrift Für Psychologie/Journal Of Psychology, 215(1), 12-24. doi:10.1027/0044-3409.215.1.12
The article How to Tell If a Particular Memory Is True or False by Daniel M. Bernstein and Elizabeth F. Loftus, addresses the various techniques used by cognitive scientists and other researchers in hopes of distinguishing true from false memories. For this article Loftus and Bernstein, memory researchers, chose to discuss the different methods currently used, rather than trying to find new ways to tell if a particular memory is true or false. Their findings in these three different approaches are very interesting, and leads us to think critically of the veracity of true and false memories.
There have been several experiments done to try to prove that false memories can indeed be formed. One experiment, for example, was tried with a 14-year-old boy. The boy was told four memories, one of which was falsely constructed but similar to that of a true memory. The memories that were suggested took place when the boy was about 10 years younger. As the false memory was retold to him, he was asked to explain in detail what he had remembered from that event. Surprisingly, he claimed to remember the event, even though it was falsely created by the interviewer and his brother, and went on to explain what he remember to have happened, details and all. After collecting everything he had said about the four memories, he was told that one of the suggested memories was made-up and he was asked to guess which one it may have been. When he couldn’t decide which one it was, he was told that it was in fact the memory of getting lost in a store. He was confused and had trouble believing the truth.
In recent years there has been a hot debate between "repressed" vs. "false" memories. Neurobiological studies show that both suppression and recall and the creation of false memories are possible. This paper evaluates the evidence but forth by both sides of the controversy and concludes that both are feasible and separate phenomenon, which occur at significant rates in our society.
False memory can be defined as someone making a recollection of an event that actually did not occur. False memory can be vivid, emotional, and can be held with great confidence. Studies have suggested that formation of false memory can be because of sleep deprivation affecting memory. The amount of sleep an individual many need can vary from time to time, however if a person goes several days of sleep deprivation, he or she can experience difficulty learning new information and paying attention, and can experience a few episodes of hallucinations.
In one study conducted by Jason Chan and his partner Jessica Lapaglia, participants put the accuracy and concreteness of their memories to the test. Volunteers were told to watch the pilot episode of the show 24 and then answer some comprehension questions about the episode. Next, the participants listened to an audio summary of the episode, where some of the details had secretly been changed. After listening to the summary, the participants took another comprehension test over what they had seen in the episode. What Chan and Lapaglia found was that the false information had rewritten the original information, even if the participant had correctly recalled the information the first time. The unfortunately two-faced side of memory is the fact that "memories are just rewritten once, but every time we remember them" (Yong
Memory is an important skill used in every day life, from identifying suspects of a crime to remembering if you turned the oven off before leaving the house. However, the accuracy of human memory is a topic of great debate and some even question whether or not we should trust our memories at all. This essay will argue that flashbulb memory is not reliably accurate when it comes to recalling details of past events because many details have the potential to be forgotten. After discussing an experiment conducted by Schmolck, Buffalo, and Squire that tested the accuracy of flashbulb memories over a period of 32 months, and a study by Talarico and Rubin that compared the accuracy of flashbulb memories to everyday memories, it will become clear that flashbulb memories are certainly not reliably accurate in terms of recalling details of past events.
Jim, from the scenario above, had a flashbulb memory from his childhood about the day his parents won the lottery, or he though he did. A flash bulb memory can be defined as memories people can remember vividly, even down to the details on a specific action that someone was doing. On this day Jim realized that the flashbulbs memory he experienced was actually wrong, but this situation can happen to a lot of people. Memories are very complex and there are multiple factors that could lead Jim to recalling his memory incorrectly.
Current models of flashbulb memories propose that factors determining the development and preservation of flashbulb memories include interest, importance, emotions, rehearsal, and even surprise (Tinti, Schmidt, Testa, & Levine, 2014). The term “flashbulb memory” originated from research by Brown and Kulik (1977) who believed that these sharp memories surrounding hearing about a special event were similar to photographs in their level of perceptual vividness. As more research has sprouted, cognitive psychologists have questioned this analogy, because memories, even for specific emotional events, can unintentionally change over time. Although flashbulb memories are unique in that they are tremendously vivid and have a high level of subjective certainty, research reveals that factors other than those presented in typical flashbulb memory models can have significant effects on consistency of flashbulb memories. This supports the idea that flashbulb memories are not necessarily
In her speech on memory, Elizabeth Loftus (2013) asserts, “Memory works a little bit more like a Wikipedia page: You can go in there and change it, but so can other people.” Elizabeth Loftus is a memory expert, she does not, however, study forgetting, as some may assume when told what she studies. Loftus (2013) says in her speech, “I study the opposite [of forgetting]: when [people] remember, when they remember things that didn't happen or remember things that were different from the way they really were. I study false memories.” In Loftus’ fascinating speech How reliable is your memory?
According to Sternberg (1999), memory is the extraction of past experiences for information to be used in the present. The retrieval of memory is essential in every aspect of daily life, whether it is for academics, work or social purposes. However, many often take memory for granted and assume that it can be relied on because of how realistic it appears in the mind. This form of memory is also known as flashbulb memory. (Brown and Kulik, 1977). The question of whether our memory is reliably accurate has been shown to have implications in providing precise details of past events. (The British Psychological Association, 2011). In this essay, I would put forth arguments that human memory, in fact, is not completely reliable in providing accurate depictions of our past experiences. Evidence can be seen in the following two studies that support these arguments by examining episodic memory in humans. The first study is by Loftus and Pickrell (1995) who found that memory can be modified by suggestions. The second study is by Naveh-Benjamin and Craik (1995) who found that there is a predisposition for memory to decline with increasing age.
By and large, researchers assert that the customary understanding regarding research and the subsequent views garnered through the research of memory can straightforwardly provide justification for the understanding of false memories (Schacter, 1999). As a starting point it is easy to interpret the understanding of this theoretical paradigm by accepting that the reconstructive nature of memory was grounded in research by Bartlett’s 1932 study (as cited in Gleaves, et. al, 2004) in which he established that an individual’s experiences or occurrences are reconstructed in the light of present views, using available schemas, that is, knowledge structures. In fact, such schemas guide not only the retrieval of events, but even their storage (Straube,