False Memories and Psychology

My mother was a devout Christian. Once the spoke about my baptism. In my memory, the time and place were different than what she said. When I got home, I looked up the event in old photos, which confirmed my memory. She had correctly recalled the fact that I was baptized but her memory was distorted.

A false memory is the recall of an event that did not happen. Such memories appear real to the person and the contents can be quite vivid.

A distorted memory may also be called a false memory. Distorted memories involve errors such as incorrect details, facts, or events.

As a psychologist, I administered tests of memory to many children and adults. Actually, any response to a question relies on recall, but psychologists may not know if the response is accurate. In testing, a patient is asked to remember specific things, which allows a psychologist to record the number of items they got correct and compare their score with others of the same age. We can also compare their score with earlier scores if they had the same test years ago.

Researchers have documented the existence of false memories by presenting participants with a false memory and later testing for recall of the implanted memory.

The problems of the accuracy of memory can be important in legal cases when the memory of an eyewitness is crucial. Research by psychological scientist Elizabeth Loftus of the University of California at Irvine and others quickly became relevant to those of us evaluating children and adults who reported being abused. (See examples of research articles below.)

___________________________

Books to read

The Malleability of Memory: A conversation with Elizabeth Loftus (Burton)

The Myth of Repressed Memory (Loftus & Ketcham)

The Seven Sins of Memory (Daniel Schacter)

Picking Cotton (Thompson-Cannino et al.) [A false memory led to a false conviction]

______________________________

Please check out my website   www.suttong.com

   and see my books on   AMAZON       or  GOOGLE STORE

See also recovered memory

______________________________

Read more

APA (2013) Position Statement on Therapies Focused on Memories of Childhood Physical and Sexual Abuse

Loftus, E. F. (1993). The reality of repressed memories. American Psychologist, 48(5), 518–537. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.48.5.518

Loftus, E. F., & Ketcham, K. (1994). The myth of repressed memory: False memories and allegations of sexual abuse. New York: St. Martin's Press.

Loftus, E. F., & Pickrell, J. E. (1995). The formation of false memories. Psychiatric Annals, 25(12), 720–725. https://doi.org/10.3928/0048-5713-19951201-07

Wright, D.B., Ost, J., & French, C.C. (n.d.). Recovered and false memories. the Psychologist. Retrieved May 7 2021 from https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-19/edition-6/recovered-and-false-memories

______________________________

Also, consider connecting with me on    FACEBOOK   Geoff W. Sutton    

   X @Geoff.W.Sutton    

You can read many published articles at no charge:

  Academia   Geoff W Sutton     ResearchGate   Geoffrey W Sutton