How much can we trust with our memories? We know that our mind maintains the imperfect record of the past. We can forget the details or worsen with frustrating consequences. Our attention is essential in ways that are easy to lose events.
But the idea is particularly disturbing that we can easily form false memories, which is actually something that we have ever experienced something that has never happened. This concept is used to throw doubts about the reliability of a lawsuit in a forensic issue, suggesting the creation of false memories of whole events. For example, lawyers represent Harvey Weinstein He mentioned this idea To raise questions about various female allegations.
We recently had the opportunity to approach this concept, examining the data of a study intended to repeat one of them Most iconic experiments False memories so far.
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The experiment was published by Elizabeth Loftus and Jacqueline Pickrell American Psychologists in 1995. Earlier decades earlier, Loftus proved that the memories of visual details could be manipulated by asking questions in disinformation. Then he wanted to see if he never wanted to implant the false memory for a childhood event. In 1995, Pickrell deceived participants according to parents or older brothers, about five years, lost in a shopping center and then lost an older woman.
Throughout two sessions, researchers were strongly encouraged 24 participants to remember and describe everything they could do about this experience (parents or older siblings are denied). Experimenters evaluated the answers to the participants and concluded that they had managed to remember a quarter of them, partially or fully used false events. Loftus previously proclaimed that some therapists can implant false memories of children’s sexual abuse in customers. Such experiments showed that “Mall” experiments could be possible. Over the years, other scientists have established false memories of events, such as a Punch Bowl in a weddingTraveling a hot air balloon or placed Lohia at the teacher’s desk.
We identified the 2017 paper Two big questions have been hanging over these studies. It is the first: which confidence can we have in the trial of false memory of experiments? For example, participants would agree that they do not believe in false events such as their relatives, but did they have memory? And secondly, what was exactly the participant remembered? Some of these memories have been real memories? And what is the false memory about “partial”? Our new studies are included in the following questions and suggests that the body of the false memory induction body must be treated: it is much much more difficult He has proposed someone to convince someone of a fake memory than past work.
In 2023 Gillian Murphy and his Irish colleagues is tightly repeated In the study of the “lost trade”, following the original methods. They used a larger sample of 123 people and 35% of the participants reported that he had false memory, 10% more than in the original study. However, less than half of these participants (14 percent) were agreed that they had the memory of the false event.
The transcripts of Murphy’s team and the transcripts of the participants to be said freely to other researchers, reflecting the movement of greater transparency in psychological research. We were surprised by an open view of science, which is the only way to implement the study of independent researchers. For the first time, it was possible to study what was really going on.
Before reviewing their data, we broke the suggested “missed mall” stories in his six elements. These were the people who were about five years, shouted, found an older woman, and joined his family and this event occurred in the purchase location specifically suggested.
For our surprise, one of the participants in replication studies did not remember all six elements. Having a complete false memory recalled less than three details, remembering a detail of those who described a particular false memory. Even more striking, 20% of those with full memories and 60% of those with partial memory do not explicitly remember the details lost.
Moreover, half of those judged to have false memory has also been lost or the situation of the same situation was similar, but not as suggested by experimenters. In all cases, these participants described real events that separated from the false events suggested. A participant said: “My memory is completely different from the other (suggested) memory”. Another said, “I don’t remember that … but I was lost in the store like a regular incident.” Others who were so sure that the suggested details would have little value in their testimony court. A participant commented: “I don’t know if I’ve ever lost in the store, I’m not sure whether it is completely built or the proper memory.”
With everything, we calculated that only five participants were reasonable that it was originally false memory than 43 claimed. Participants were clearly engaged in research and what they had to do, they remembered about the event suggested in something sophisticated. Their comments revealed, for example, that they compared them with other passages that have lost the scenario, who would have thought it would be and suggested the commercial center. Labeling as false memory does not capture these important aspects of experience.
Our discoveries create serious questions about the claims made in court, other times Implanting false memories. Most of the so-called false memories were much more limited, and the convictions were much less, expected to claim the claims made about this type of experiment. While these questions remain, psychologists should be very prudent how they present findings about memory implantation. It is easy to overcome the importance or generality of scientific evidence.
NonPouplists can take comfort in these findings. Although memory is limited and sometimes wrong, false memories are not easy to implant. For the most part, memory has enough work. And while it is valuable, it is a critical distance and skepticism, especially considering reliability in legal memory contexts, because we are not too fast because it may be imperfect to throw a person.
Are you a scientist who specializes in neuroscience, cognitive science or psychology? And did you read the last peer revised role you wanted to be able to complete? Send suggestions American scientificIt is important to editor Editor at Daisy Yuhas dyuhas@sciam.com.
This is an opinion and analysis article, and the views indicated by the author or authors are not necessarily American scientific.
