A false memory is a fabricated or distorted recollection of an event. People often think of memory as something like a video recorder, accurately documenting and storing everything that happens with perfect accuracy and clarity. In reality, memory is very prone to fallacy and fragile. We are susceptible to errors, and subtle suggestions can trigger false memories. Surprisingly, people with exceptional memories are still susceptible to making things up without even realizing it People can feel completely confident that their memory is accurate, but this confidence is no guarantee that a particular memory is correct.

1. False Memory
(Cognitive Psychology-7)
by
Col Mukteshwar Prasad(Retd),
MTech(IIT Delhi) ,CE(I),FIE(I),FIETE,FISLE,FInstOD,AMCSI
Contact -+919007224278,
e-mail -muktesh_prasad@yahoo.co.in
for book ”Decoding Services Selection Board” and
SSB guidance and training at Shivnandani Edu and Defence
Academy,Kolkata,India

2. Introduction
 A false memory is a fabricated or distorted recollection of an
event.
 People often think of memory as something like a video recorder,
accurately documenting and storing everything that happens with perfect
accuracy and clarity.
 In reality, memory is very prone to fallacy and fragile.
 We are susceptible to errors, and subtle suggestions can trigger false
memories.
 Surprisingly, people with exceptional memories are still susceptible to
making things up without even realizing it
 People can feel completely confident that their memory is accurate, but
this confidence is no guarantee that a particular memory is correct.
 Definitions of False Memory
 How do psychologists define false memory? How do they distinguish
it from other forms of memory fallibility?
 "A false memory is a mental experience that is mistakenly taken
to be a veridical representation of an event from one's personal
past. Memories can be false in relatively minor ways (e.g.,
believing one last saw the keys in the kitchen when they were in
the living room) and in major ways that have profound
implications for oneself and others (e.g., mistakenly believing

3. Introduction
"It is essential, at this early stage, to
distinguish false memory from the more
familiar idea of memory fallibility.
Memory, as everyone knows, is an
imperfect archive of our experience... In
its most general sense, false memory
refers to circumstances in which we are
possessed of positive, definite memories
of events - although the degree of
definiteness might vary - that did not
actually happen to us."
(Brainerd & Reyna, 2005)

4. Why exactly do these incorrect memories(False Memory)
form?
 Inaccurate Perception
 Human perception isn't perfect.
Sometimes we see things that aren't
there and miss obvious things that are right in
front of us.
 In many cases, false memories form because
the information is not encoded correctly in the
first place.
 For example, a person might witness an
accident but not have a clear view of everything
that happened.
 Recounting the events that occurred can be
difficult or even impossible since they did not
actually witness all of the details.
 As a result, the person's mind might fill in the

5. Why exactly do these incorrect memories(False Memory)
form?
 Inference
 In other cases, old memories and experiences compete
with newer information.
 Sometimes it is old memories that interfere or alter our new
memories, and in other instances new information can
make it difficult to remember previously stored information.
 As we are piecing old information back together, there are
sometimes holes or gaps in our memory.
 Our minds then try to fill in the missing spaces, often
using current knowledge as well as beliefs or
expectations.
 For example, you can probably distinctly remember where
you were and what you were doing during the terrorist
attacks of 9/11.
 While you probably feel like your memories of the event
are pretty accurate, there is a very strong chance that your
recollections have been influenced by subsequent news
coverage and stories about the attacks.

6. Why exactly do these incorrect memories(False Memory)
form?
 Emotions
 If you've ever tried to recall the details of an emotionally-charged event (e.g.,
an argument, an accident, a medical emergency), you probably realize
that emotions can wreak havoc on your memory.
 Sometimes strong emotions can make an experience more memorable,
but they can sometimes lead to mistaken or untrustworthy memories.
 Researchers have found that people tend to be more likely to remember
events connected to strong emotions, but that the details of such
memories are often suspect.
 Retelling important events can also lead to a false belief in the accuracy of
the memory.
 One 2008 study found that negative emotions in particular were more
likely to lead to the formation of false memories.
 Other studies have suggested that this false memory effect has less to
do with negative emotions and more to do with arousal levels.
 A 2007 study found that false memories were significantly more
frequent during periods of high arousal than during periods of low
arousal, regardless of whether the mood was positive, negative, or
neutral.

7. Why exactly do these incorrect memories(False Memory)
form?
 Misinformation
 Sometimes accurate information gets mixed with
incorrect information, which then distorts our
memories for events.
 Loftus has been studying false memories since the 1970s
and her work has revealed the serious consequences that
misinformation can have on memory.
 In her studies, participants were shown images of a traffic
accident. When questioned about the event after seeing the
images, the interviewers included leading questions or
misleading information.
 When the participants were later tested on their memory of
the accident, those who had been fed misleading
information were more likely to have false memories of the
event.
 The serious potential impact of this misinformation
effect can be easily seen in the area of criminal justice,
where mistakes can literally mean the difference between

8. Why exactly do these incorrect memories(False Memory)
form?
 Misattribution
 Have you ever mixed up the details of one story with the details of another?
 For example, while telling a friend about your last vacation you might
mistakenly relate an incident that happened on a vacation you took several
years ago.
 This is an example of how misattribution can form false memories.
 This might involve combining elements of different events into one
cohesive story, misremembering where you obtained a particular piece of
information, or even recalling imagined events from your childhood and
believing that they are real.
 Fuzzy Tracing
 When forming a memory, we don't always focus on the nitty-gritty details and
instead remember an overall impression of what happened.
 Fuzzy trace theory suggests that we sometimes make verbatim traces
of events and other times make only gist traces.
 Verbatim traces are based on the real events as they actually
happened, while gist traces are centered on our interpretations of
events.
 How does this explain false memories? Sometimes how we interpret
information does not accurately reflect what really happened.
 These biases interpretations of events can lead to false memories of
the original events.

9. Why exactly do these incorrect memories(False Memory)
form?
 Final Thoughts
 While researchers are still learning more about the mechanisms behind how
false memories form, it is clear that false memory is something that can
happen to virtually anyone.
 These memories can range from the trivial to the life-altering, from the
mundane to the potentially fatal.
 "Nearly two decades of research on memory distortion leaves no doubt that
memory can be altered via suggestion," wrote Loftus and Pickerell in a
seminal 1995 article.
 "People can be led to remember their past in different ways, and they
even can be led to remember entire events that never actually
happened to them. When these sorts of distortions occur, people are
sometimes confident in their distorted or false memories, and often go
on to describe the pseudo memories in substantial detail. These
findings shed light on case in which false memories are fervently held-
as in when people remember things that are biologically or
geographically impossible.“
 Memory researcher Elizabeth Loftus has demonstrated through her research
that it is possible to induce false memories through suggestion.
 She has also shown that these memories can become stronger and more
vivid as time goes on.
 Over time, memories become distorted and begin to change.

10. The Potential Impact of False
Memories
 While we are all familiar with the fallibility of memory
(who hasn't forgotten an important bit of information), many
people do not realize just how common false memory
really is.
 People are remarkably susceptible to suggestion, which
can create memories of events and things that didn't
really happen to us.
 Most of the time these false memories are fairly
inconsequential
 - a memory that you brought the keys in the house and
hung them up in the kitchen, when in reality you left them
out in the car, for example.
 In other instances, false memories can have serious
implications.
 Researchers have found that false memories are one of the
leading causes of false convictions, usually through the
false identification of a suspect or false recollections
during police interrogations.

11. Who Is Affected by False Memories?
 Loftus's groundbreaking research has shown just how easily and readily false
memories can form.
 In one study, participants watched video of an automobile accident and were
then asked some questions about what they saw in the film.
 Some participants were asked 'How fast were the cars going when they
smashed into each other?‘
 while others were asked the same question but the words 'smashed into'
were replaced with 'hit.'
 When the participants were given a memory test pertaining to the accident a
week later, those who had been asked the 'smashed into' question were
more likely to have a false memory of seeing broken glass in the film.
 Loftus also suggests that false memories form more readily when enough
time has passed that the original memory has faded.
 In eyewitness testimony for example, the length of time between the
incident and being interviewed about the event plays a role in how
suggestible people are to false memory.
 If interviewed immediately after an event, when the details are still vivid,
people are less likely to be influenced by misinformation.
 If, however, an interview is delayed for a period of time, people are more likely
to be affected by potential false information.

12. The bottom line:
While it might be difficult for
many people to believe,
everyone has false memories.
Our memories are generally
not as reliable as we think and
false memories can form quite
easily, even among people
who typically have very good

13. The Consequences of False
Memories
 . False memories of crimes and sexual abuse can have serious
consequences for the both the accuser and the accused, but most
instances of false memories are less serious and happen with
surprising frequency.
 What impact do these false memories have on our behaviors?
 False Memories Can Impact Your Eating Habits
 In one experiment on how false memories impact behavior, researchers
created a false memory by suggesting that participants had become ill after
eating egg salad as a child. Afterwards, the participants were presented with
four different types of sandwiches, including an egg salad sandwich.
 Surprisingly, those who had been convinced by the false memory of
becoming ill as a child showed a change in behavior and attitude toward the
egg salad option
 Those who had been influenced by the false memory avoided the egg
salad and gave it lower ratings than the other participants who had not
developed the false memory.
 Four months later, these participants still showed the same avoidance of
the egg salad option.
 These results indicate that not only can false memories be created quite
easily through suggestion; these incorrect memories can also have a
very real impact on behavior.

14. The Consequences of False
Memories
 False Memories Complicate End of Life Decisions
 False memories can also have an impact on the decisions people make at the end of
their lives, such as
 the type of treatment they want,
 the kind of care they wish to have, and
 whether or not they want rescue interventions to be performed.
 Living wills are often touted as a sure-fire way to ensure that our end-of-life wishes
are observed.
 A living will is a legal document designed to relate wishes in the event that the
individual becomes seriously ill and unable to communicate.
 This document often includes specific information about the type of treatment,
care, and interventions that a person does or does not want to have if he or she
becomes terminally ill.
 Do living wills accurately convey end of life decisions?
 According one study published in the APA journal Health Psychology, these
directives may not be as effective as many believe because preferences can
change over time without the individual being aware of these changes.
 "Living wills are a noble idea and can often be very helpful in decisions that must be

15. The Consequences of False
Memories
 False Memories Complicate End of Life Decisions….is seriously
misguided."
 In the study, 401 participants over the age of 65 were asked about which life
sustaining treatment they would want, such as CPR and tube feedings, if they were
seriously ill. Twelve months later, these individuals were asked to recall the choices
they had made in the first interview.
 Approximately one-third of the respondents had changed their wishes over the
course of the year.
 Surprisingly, 75% of these individuals falsely remembered their original views on
various end-of-life treatments.
 Researchers also interviewed individuals who held the authority to make such
decisions in the event that the participants were no longer able.
 These individuals showed even lower awareness of changes in their loved ones
wishes, with 86% of respondents showing false memories.
 Ditto suggests that these results indicate that living wills should have an "expiration
date."
 But what should people do in order to ensure that their final wishes are followed.
 "On a more personal level," Ditto explained, "our research stresses the importance

16. The Consequences of False
Memories
 False Memories Can Have Life Altering and Even Fatal Consequences
 In other instances, false memories have had a dramatic and disturbing impact on
people's lives.
 For example, one Wisconsin woman sought help from a psychiatrist, who used a
number of methods to help "uncover" repressed memories of traumatic events.
 Instead, these suggestive methods convinced the woman that she had been
raped, in a cult, forced to eat babies, and that she had witnessed the murder of her
best friend when she was a child.
 The woman later realized that the memories were false and had been implanted by
her psychiatrist, resulting in a lawsuit and a $2.4 million dollar judgment in her
favor.
 False memories have also led to false accusations and false convictions fo rmany
crimes, including sexual abuse.
 For example, in 1994 a 26-year-old preschool teacher served four years in prison
after being convicted of 115 counts of sexually abusing 20 children in her care.
 Later review by a committee made up of nearly 50 scientists concluded that many
of the implausible claims made against the defendant were tainted by false
memories. As a result, the defendant's conviction was overturned.

17. The Consequences of False
Memories
 False Memories Can Have Life Altering and Even Fatal Consequences.
 As temperatures reached to 110 degree Fahrenheit inside the car, her son
died of hyperthermia.
 What does this have to do with false memories?
 In many cases, these accidents happen when parents mistakenly believe
that they dropped their children off at daycare or at the babysitters.
 In Balfour's case, dropping her husband off at work that morning led her to
think that she had in fact dropped her son off at the babysitter.
 Essentially, she formed a false memory of dropping her son off, leading her
to forget that the child was actually still in the backseat.
 "I remembered dropping Bryce off, talking to the babysitter. It's what they call
false memories. When you do something every day as part of a routine, you
can remember doing it, even if you didn't," Balfour explained to The
Guardian.
 It sounds like an incomprehensible mistake - or worse, an act of criminal
child neglect.

18. The Consequences of False
Memories
 False Mem ories Can Have Life Altering and Even Fatal Consequences.
 In many of these cases, the parents are not the neglectful, irresponsible
people you might expect. Instead, they are often loving parents who get
too busy or distracted and make a truly terrible mistake of memory.
 "Memory is a machine, and it is not flawless," David Diamond, a professor of
molecular physiology at the University of South Florida, explained to writer
Gene Weingarten in an article for The Washington Post. "Our conscious mind
prioritizes things by importance, but on a cellular level, our memory does not.
If you’re capable of forgetting your cellphone, you are potentially capable of
forgetting your child."
 While people often read such stories and immediately think, "It could never
happen to me. I have an excellent memory!" the evidence suggests
otherwise.
 Research has demonstrated that everyone is susceptible to false
memories, even people with exceptionally good memory.

19. The Consequences of False
Memories
 Final Thoughts
 While we sometimes think of false memories as relatively rare, researchers
have found that such memories are actually quite common and easily
formed. Perhaps more important, experts have discovered that even those
with extremely good memories are just as susceptible to forming false
memories. The key perhaps is to realize that your memory is vulnerable to
misinformation and that perhaps you cannot place as much trust in your
memory as you might think