Can we be sure if a memory is true or false? The answer to this is that we can never be certain. However, this is not to say that most memories are not true. There just needs to be evidence to prove that a memory is real. False memories are reconstructions of a memory that do not align with true events. It is a phenomenon where a person thinks something that did not happen or something that did happen is different from the way it actually occurred. Memories can appear to be solid and straightforward, but evidence suggests that memories are actually complex, subject to change, and unreliable. Memories can change as people age and change in opinion. They start to falsify or create new childhood memories. They can be tricked into having memories of events that never happened through effective suggestion. Effective suggestion is where a person manipulates the thoughts and feelings of others, causing them to create new memories. False memory was first studied by Pierre Janet and Sigmund Freud. They studied how malleable memory is and how memories can be changed or falsified. This is important because false memory have terrible consequences in legal cases like children as eyewitnesses of crime. Elizabeth Loftus, one of the most influential researchers, has worked on numerous high-profile cases including the infamous serial killer Ted Bundy. In a 17 min ted talk, Loftus talks about how false memory has affected huge legal cases, where actually lives are at stake. She shows the audience how unreliable memory actually is. She dives into a ongoing legal case about a man named Steve Titus. Steve was a married man and one night, the couple went out for a meal at a restaurant. On their way home, they were puled over by a police officer. The reason was because Titus’ car resembled that of a man who raped a woman, and he also looked like the man. Because of this, the police took a picture of Titus. They actually put this picture in a photo lineup, and the victim ended up pointing at Titus’ photo. Titus ended up being put on trial for raping this woman. The victim got on the stand during the trial and said, “I’m absolutely positive that that’s the man”, speaking about Steve Titus. Because of this Titus was falsely convicted and taken to jail. All of this happened just because of a false memory, that the victim made about Titus. False memory is something that occurs all the time in real-life situations and can become catastrophic as seen in the Titus trial. The entire Ted talk where Loftus goes more in depth into the effects of false memory can be seen here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PB2OegI6wvI.
Author: ses6189
Frontal Lobe
The Frontal Lobe
The brain is something that controls basically our entire body. However, there are certain parts of the brain that control different parts of the body. For example, the frontal lobe is a section of the brain that controls cognitive skills in humans. Cognitive skills include things like emotional expression, problem solving, memory, language, judgment, and sexual behaviors. It could be considered the control room of personality and ability to communicate. The frontal lobe also controls primary motor function, which is the ability to move muscles consciously. It also involves the Broca’s area, which has to do with spoken and written language. The human frontal is more developed than any other organism on the planet. That is why it has so many functions and is so complex. Obviously like its name suggests it is in the front of the brain. The left and right hemispheres of the frontal lobe control their opposite sides. For example, the left hemisphere controls the right side of the body and the other way around. The frontal lobe is the most common place for brain injury, which is extremely dangerous because it causes changes in personality, limited facial expressions, and difficulty in interpreting surroundings. Damaging it could also lead to not being able to asses risk and danger. That is why in 7th grade my English teacher would tell us to tap our frontal lobe twice if we ever did something unintelligent. This is because at that age our frontal lobe is not fully developed, which is the reason why kids do dumb things and cannot explain why they did it. For example, when I was 12 years old, I jumped down a flight of stairs and hurt myself for absolutely no reason. When my friends asked me why I jumped I truly could not think of a reason. That is because the frontal lobe controls things like judgment, which was not fully developed in my situation. Even with the length of time that has gone past, every time I hear the words “frontal lobe” I tap my head twice unconsciously.
Sources:
“Medically reviewed by Healthline’s Medical Network”. Healthline. 2 March 2015. Medically reviewed by Healthline’s Medical Network March 2, 2015 https://www.healthline.com/human-body-maps/frontal-lobe#1