7.15 Memory and False Memories

Common belief: Memory acts as a perfect recording device, similar to a video camera.
Reality: Memories are fallible and prone to false memories influenced by the misinformation effect.
- This effect occurs when subsequent information alters the details of the original memory.

Definition: The phenomenon where post-event information can alter one's memory of the original event.
Elizabeth Loftus: A renowned researcher in memory studies who has demonstrated the misinformation effect through various experiments.

Staged Car Accident Experiment:
- Participants viewed a car crash.
- Following the viewing, questions were asked, such as: "Did you see the car go through the stop sign or the yield sign?"
- Result: Participants influenced to recall a yield sign when asked with leading questions, despite the stop sign being present in reality.
Speed Estimation Experiment:
- Participants were asked how fast two cars were going when they either hit one another (neutral phrasing) or smashed into one another (leading phrasing).
- Leading question with "smashed" yielded higher speed estimates than "hit."
- Follow-up: When asked if they saw glass at the crash scene, those who had the "smashed" phrasing were more likely to falsely recall seeing glass, despite it not being present in the video footage.

Importance for juries to avoid outside information during deliberations.
- Media coverage can alter jurors' memories and interpretation of evidence, potentially leading to unjust trials.

Children are particularly susceptible to false memories influenced by the way they are questioned.
- Example: Key difference between asking, "Did you see the man in black and white overalls?" (implying the existence of the man) vs. "Did you see a man in black and white overalls?"
- Subtle changes in question phrasing can significantly impact children's responses.

Depiction in dramas of lawyers standing in the well of the courtroom is not accurate.
The well is a restricted area, and lawyers must not enter it during court proceedings.

DRM Procedure (Deese-Roediger-McDermott):
- Involves giving a list of related words, with the key theme word absent.
- Example: A list of words related to "sleep" without actually including "sleep."
- Outcome: Approximately 70% of participants misremember and include the theme word (sleep), creating a false memory.
Critical Lure:
- The main word related to other items from which a false memory is derived.
Intrusion Error:
- When another piece of information intrudes on the memory of an event.

Studies indicate different brain activations when recalling true memories compared to false ones generated through the DRM procedure.
- Notably less activity in sensory areas of the brain when recalling false memories, indicating a lack of tangible sensory experience.

Technique of using guided imagery to prompt individuals to visualize events.
- Overtime, repeated imagining leads to increased confidence in the reality of that memory, even if it did not occur.
Doctored Photograph Experiment:
- Participants provided childhood photos with some doctored to depict fabricated events.
- Over time and repeated interviews, many participants convinced themselves of details surrounding the false events reflected in the manipulated photos.

Definition: Challenges in distinguishing between real and imagined events.
- Example: Doubts about whether one actually performed a task (like turning off a stove) or just imagined doing it, leading to anxiety.
Analogy of Memory as a Library:
- The library metaphor breaks down due to the capability for memories to change, be modified, or lost over time with new information.
- Sometimes, aspects of memories can be altered, akin to pages getting ripped out or graffiti being added to books, affecting our recollection of events.