This paper discusses the current state of research into false memories and memory manipulation as well the therapeutic applications of this research. The paper describes studies that demonstrate the susceptibility of memory to change and influence to establish the viability of memory manipulation. Current and proposed applications of memory modification are described through the chronicling of research in the area. The ethical concerns of such research are discussed as well as potential subjects of future research. Utilization of mnemonic elasticity is determined to be a valuable asset that has great potential for present and future interventions.
The Therapeutic Implications of False
Memories and Memory Manipulation
Research has demonstrated the vast implications of false memories for eyewitness testimony and therapeutic recall. However, there is also great potential for positive applications of this research. The plasticity of memories could have significant therapeutic implications. Positive false memories could be created as well as neutralizing traumatic ones. Researchers in cognitive psychology and neuroscience are currently researching these possibilities. This paper will discuss the current state of research on therapeutic memory manipulation.
Literature Review
False Memories
The malleability of memories has long been established through research conducted in a variety of context. The most well known context that individual predisposition for false memory development has been chronicled in is in the realm of eyewitness testimony. However, research into false memories has also focused on its implications in everyday life and in a variety of clinical settings as well. This background research is important beca...
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...ampening drugs depend on context and country. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 25(5), 675-681. doi:10.1002/acp.1740
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Torregrossa, M., & Taylor, J. (2013). Learning to forget: manipulating extinction and reconsolidation processes to treat addiction. Psychopharmacology, 226(4), 659-672.
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Roediger III, H. L., Watson, J. M., McDermott, K. B., & Gallo, D. A. (2001). Factors that determine false recall: A multiple regression analysis. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 8(3), 385-407.
In Laurence Armand French Ph.D. and Thomas J. Young Ph.D.’s article The False Memory Syndrome: Clinical/Legal Issues for the Prosecution talks about memory recall being an unreliable form of evidence in the Criminal Justice System. French and Young state that hypnosis and lie detector tests are a misconception because “the cognitive interpretations of the emotional/autonomic aspects of the central nervous (CNS) and peripheral nervous systems are not true indicators of reality,” (p. 38).
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.
Psychological research shows, a witness's memory of details during the commission of a crime, has a high probability of containing significant errors. In response to these findings, the question is should witness testimony still be permissible in a court of law? Obviously, the answer to this question is an important one and is debatable. Consequently, what we know is many innocent people go to jail due to eyewitness misidentification. Therefore, it is imperative that all defense attorneys thoroughly evaluate the validity of eyewitness recollection events. Any defense attorney who does anything less is ignoring the findings of the psychological community and its’ study of how the brain functions. As a result, an intense analysis of an
Sight cues came as no surprise to me, as I had assumed since the start that those would be the most prevalent. What was surprising to me was that I had a memory cued by a memory. Although I did not think it impossible, I had assumed that such a cue would not happen to me. I also noted the pattern of influence on my emotional state. Five memories influenced me positively, one negatively, and six did not influence me at all. The emotional content of the memories lined up about the same as the influence it had on my emotional state. The only part that came as a surprise to me was that some of my memories had no emotional content. I had assumed that all of the memories I would write down would have emotion to them and influence my emotion in some way. All of the memories I recorded were dealing with unusual events in my life, which suggests there is no correlation between my emotion and the unusualness of the memory. I found this interesting, as I thought the purpose of most of my involuntary memories would be of things I do often and that is why they would be remembered out of the blue. Based on what I recorded, the purpose of my involuntary memories seems to be to make sure I remember things I do not think about that
Loftus’s work and the studies that followed have demonstrated that an individual’s memory of an event can easily be distorted by post-event information, which is provided through questions that the researcher or police officer in case of a real life crime might ask the witness. But not only researchers’ questions have been found to distort memory. Several studies have indicated that when witnesses discuss an event together they can mistakenly incorporate elements of each other’s memories into their own memories (e.g., Gabbert, Memon, & Allan, 2003; Paterson & Kemp, 2006). ...
Koriat, A., Goldsmith, M., Schneider, W., & Nakash-Dura, M. (2001). The Credibility of Children’s Testimony: Can Children Control the Accuracy of Their Memory Reports?. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 79, 405-437.
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.
One of the most interesting phenomenon related to memory is memory distortions. One way in which they occur is through suggestibility, where people begin to remember false experiences if researchers suggested to them that they experienced it (Sternberg and Sternberg, 2012). In real-life situations, this is caused in part by memory being constructive “in that prior experiences affects how we recall things and what we actually recall from memory” (Sternberg and Sternberg, 2012). People’s prior experiences, including their bias and expectations, may influence how they experience false memory formations; the formation of false memories is also affected by several possible factors, one of which may be sleep deprivation (Frenda, Patihis, Loftus,
Sakaki, M., Kuhbandner, C., Mather, M., & Pekrun, R. (2014). Memory suppression can help people 'unlearn' behavioral responses—But only for nonemotional memories. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 21(1), 136-141.
We can imply this finding of false memory in many ways in our lives. We all should note that our memory cannot be trusted 100% and we should not solely rely on our memory when it comes to making critical decisions. Just like the murder trial example used in earlier, when it comes to eye witnessing, the judge should take possible false memory into account when making the final decisions and try to obtain objective evidence along with the memory of the witness.
Eyewitnesses of an event, whether it is traumatic or not, can create false memories and insist a specific event happened when in reality, it did not happen. Their memories are vulnerable to an assortment of errors in remembering precise details and their memories can be manipulated, causing a distorted occurrence that on no occasion happened. After reading three research papers on memory blindness with eyewitnesses, it has been proven that eyewitness accounts are not completely accurate and also shows how attributions, choice blindness, and certain circumstances play a role when they are asked to recall the event.
Loftus has focused the bulk of her career on both the psychological and legal aspects of distorted or false memories, and her work demonstrates the facility with which memories and beliefs can be molded. Her findings regarding the strength of eyewitness testimony and repressed traumatic memories have helped change the notion that such testimony is absolutely reliable (Zagorski, N., 2005).”