Half of People Remember Events That Never Happened

SeaBreeze

SeaBreeze

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They'll start to "remember" something suggested and actually build on their memory. More here. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/half-of-people-remember-events-that-never-happened/

The study demonstrated that about half of individuals will come to believe a fictional event occurred if they are told about that event and then repeatedly imagine it happening.
More than 400 people participated in the study, led by professor Kimberley Wade.

The study experimented with implanting fake (but relatively harmless) memories, such as taking a childhood hot-air balloon ride, pulling a prank on a teacher, or causing trouble at a family wedding, into the minds of study participants.

Researchers told them about the imaginary events as if they were real, and about 30 percent of participants appeared to “remember” it happening, even elaborating on how it occurred and describing details of what it was like. Another 23 percent showed signs of accepting the story to some degree, the researchers said.

Showing participants photos of the purported hot-air balloon ride actually diminished the chances that they would accept the account and develop false memory. The researchers theorize this could be because “such photos may serve to constrain imagination during efforts to recall the event, thus leading to lower memory formation.”

In order to fit the definition of a false memory, they looked for instances where participants went beyond the “facts” initially told to them. “As participants move from saying ‘I do not remember that’ to ‘Now I remember … ,’ they must report additional imagery or otherwise elaborate beyond the suggested material,” the authors wrote in the study, published in the journal Memory.

“Thus, approximately one-third of participants showed evidence of a false memory, and more than half showed evidence of believing that the event occurred in the past.”
The study highlights the slippery nature of human memory, and is just the latest in a growing body of research looking into how memories form and how they can be manipulated.
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Interesting. But if it only happens when someone plants the memory into your mind, that doesn't say a whole lot about the accuracy of your memory, does it? Just your susceptibility to suggestion. Usually you don't have people around telling you things that didn't happen. Embellishing details maybe.

Just recently my childhood girlfriend asked me if I remembered the time we tossed a cat off a wall at her farm to see if it would land on its feet or not (scientific experiment:rolleyes:). We would have been around 10 years old then. She swears it happened. I think it happened with another of her friends, not me. But I've got to the point where it seems like I can remember us *thinking* about doing that, but not actually carrying it out. Can't believe I wouldn't remember that, but we did do a lot of other stupid things together. [btw, if it happened, the cat must have survived, because I'm sure *both* of us would have remembered it otherwise.]

The stupid things you do when you are a kid.:rolleyes:
 
"If you repeat a lie, often enough, people will begin to believe it". This statement is usually attributed to Lenin, and there is a lot of truth in it....Politicians, the world over, are proof of the validity of that statement.
 

This seems to come up in child abuse cases in particular. Did the police or doctors put that idea in their head. Many experts say witness testimony is not always reliable and/or could fade with time. I guess it depends if the event made a real impact on you. It also depends how distracted one is. Are certain events nothing but background noise in one's life.

There is also 'the narrative'. Which means the motives of the interviewer & interviewee must be taken into consideration.

Could this explain why I'm constantly losing the tv remote along with car & house keys?
 
On the other hand, they say we cannot remember things that happened before we were five. I do, as they were traumatic events. No one put them in my mind either, I am certain of that.
 
I remember 3 events that happened when I was 2 years old and one at 3 years old. I remember having surgery as a 2 year old, They put me in a crib and I was very angry. I remember standing up in the crib, and the doctor standing beside the crib. I'm told I grabbed the papers on a table at the head of the crib and tore them up, that pat I don't remember. I also remember going for a walk along the highway, and suddenly realizing I didn't recognize where I was, "Ohhh I'm lost", then I realized I walked straight along the road, so I turned around and walked back the way I came until I recognised our street.

Then at 3 my mother left me with her Aunt Edith whom I heartily disliked.So I let myself out of the front door , but she caught me. Then she latched a top latch on the screen door, and went back to what ever she had been doing. I mean how stupid did she think I was? I pulled up a chair unlocked the door and was gone. I crossed a good sized highway, and walked at least a mile to my cousins house. I don't know how I found it but I did. Ended up staying quite a while, several months. My cousin tells me that I knocked on the door and she answered it (she is 3 years older than I ) said there I stood , and she was looking around for an adult, but there wasn't one.
 
Carla, I can't imagine why anyone would think we can't remember things that happened before we were 5. I have lots of memories of those early years, most of them happy. Probably we all do.
 

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