Muhammed Ali Week 15 - The Danger of False Memories
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The Danger of False Memory
One of the scariest and most potentially dangerous things that can afflict a person is false memory. False or faulty memory is when a person remembers an event or circumstance differently from how it actually happened. The differences between fact and false memory can be marginal or major, yielding a variety of results depending on the extremity of the false memory (more on that later). While not physically harmful, false memory has the capacity to break up relationships and familial bonds, tormenting people in a different way than physical pain.
False memories are often created by the day-to-day situations we find ourselves in—whether they be at school, at home, at work, or anywhere else—and the people we find ourselves spending time around. In a study cited by Verywell Mind in an article about false memories, “researchers created a false memory by suggesting that participants had become ill after eating certain foods as children. In other cases, false memories were created suggesting that people had tried certain foods and loved them. After being influenced by false memories, participants changed their behaviors and attitudes toward foods.”
The dangers of false memories come when people recall events that have significant legal power differently from how they actually happened, resulting in false testimonies and accusations that have the potential to ruin victims' lives. According to the Association of Psychological Science, 68% of wrongful convictions in the United States came as a result of “eyewitness misidentification.” Within the cases themselves, false memory has also been the cause of many more crimes, including “a number of hot car deaths in which parents have mistakenly left children locked in cars, with deadly results.”
A particularly interesting case of false memory comes from an Italian court case where a woman filed a lawsuit against her therapist for “therapy-induced false memories.” According to the woman, “the therapist asked highly suggestive questions to the girl, implying that she was abused by her father” even though prior to the sessions she had no recollection of parental abuse at any time in her life. Studies following the lawsuit demonstrate that because of the “suggestive pressure in a therapeutic context,” the woman began to form false memories of her childhood and about her relationship with her father.
While it may seem like something only a select few people can fall prey to, false memory is actually commonly acquired by a variety of people. The Verywell Mind article says that “even those with excellent memories are susceptible to forming false memories,” showing that we should all be extremely careful when it comes to remembering important and significant things.
Consequences of False Memories
A court ruled case on therapy‐induced false memories
Convicted by Memory, Exonerated by Science .
Hi Muhammed! I didn't realize that false memories were so common, or that they could be potentially very dangerous. I also didn't realize false memories could be induced, as you described about the research conducted, but I can see how this would be impactful, especially in court. I agree with the idea that eyewitnesses are not the most reliable in court cases, since I was aware of the debate surrounding the credibility of eyewitnesses in court cases, but I didn't consider how much of an impact false memory could have in these situations. Also, I think this concept of false memory could play a significant role in nostalgia and how people often romanticize the past, in terms of their own personal past experiences and even past periods of time, like how motifs and symbols from various time periods have been collected into aesthetics today. The dangers of false memory are also evident in this example, because the romanticization of the past often does not take into account the vast potential differences in society and conduct between today and previous eras.
ReplyDeleteHi Muhammed,
ReplyDeleteYour blog post provides an informative exploration of the often overlooked phenomenon of false memory. It skillfully explains how our day-to-day experiences and interactions can unknowingly shape and distort our recollections, sometimes leading to profound consequences. The example you cited from the study on false memories, where participants were influenced to remember events differently based on suggestive information, effectively highlights the malleability of memory. Moreover, the inclusion of statistics, such as the alarming rate of wrongful convictions due to eyewitness misidentification, adds depth to the discussion, emphasizing the real-world implications of false memory. To add on, a major cause of eyewitness misidentification is something called framing effect. Framing effect is the bias where people react differently to a particular decision depending on how it's presented or worded. For example, if an eyewitness was being interrogated about a car crash, and the interrogator used the word “smashed” instead of “collided,” the eyewitness would remember the car crash being more severe. The case study from the Italian court case builds on your explanation, further illustrating the potential dangers of therapy-induced false memories and underscoring the ethical responsibilities of professionals in therapeutic environments. By combining research findings and real-life examples, your blog prompts readers to reflect on their own susceptibility to false memories and the importance of critical thinking in memory recall. Overall, it effectively raises awareness about the prevalence and implications of false memory.
Hi Muhammed, I find your blog very interesting since I have always been aware of the ability to create false memories but never thought of it as so dangerous. Now that I think about it creating false memories is so easy and accidental, it is like believing in a lie you told yourself. This can backfire since it is very obvious that it is a lie to others besides yourself leading others to believe you are intentionally deceiving them. Another smaller way of creating false memories is having different views on the same event. Like O'Brein said having different angles, background, and intentions are render the same event as a completely different story. This way the 2 stories are both truth however might have some conflict if the two sides don't understand that change in perspective.
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