Memory reports can be influenced by inferences that individuals make based on their own experience and knowledge which often leads to false memories (Goldstein, 2020). False memories are quite common. In fact, false memories arise from the same constructive process that produces true memories (Goldstein, 2020). Memory is not a camera or a tape recorder that creates a perfect, unchangeable record of everything that happens. The constructive property of memory is beneficial in most situations, but it can also be very detrimental in certain situations, such as eyewitness testimonies.
Eyewitness testimonies are not as reliable as many people think. When DNA analysis was introduced in the late 1980’s, it revolutionized forensic science (Chew, 2018). DNA analysis provides an increases level of accuracy about the actual perpetrator(s) versus innocent people falsely accused of crime. And because of DNA testing, many settled cases were reviewed again. “358 people who had been convicted and sentenced to death since 1989 have been exonerated through DNA evidence. Of these, 71% had been convicted through eyewitness misidentification and had served an average of 14 years in prison before exoneration” (Chew, 2018).
Research is clear that false memories are prevalent in eyewitness testimonies. According to the Innocent Project, Kirk Bloodsworth, who was convicted and sentenced to death in 1984 for the rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl, became the first United States death row prisoner to be exonerated by DNA. No physical or circumstantial evidence linked Bloodsworth to the crime, but five witnesses placed him either with the victim or near the scene of the crime.
As you can see, memory is not a camera or a tape recorder that creates a perfect, unchangeable record of everything that happens. Memories are influenced by an individual’s knowledge and experience of the world. And the constructive process of memory can be very detrimental.
Work Cited
Chew, S. L. (2018, August 20). Myth: Eyewitness testimony is the best kind of evidence. Association for Psychological Science – APS. Retrieved November 18, 2021, from https://www.psychologicalscience.org/teaching/myth-eyewitness-testimony-is-the-best-kind-of-evidence.html.
Goldstein, E. B. (2020). Cognitive psychology: Connecting mind, research, and everyday experience. Cengage Learning Asia Pte Ltd.
Kirk Bloodsworth – Innocence project. (n.d.). Retrieved November 18, 2021, from https://innocenceproject.org/cases/kirk-bloodsworth/.
Hey there Rachael! False memory is a topic I found myself quickly immersed into as well. Cognitive psychology is essentially the study of the mind, or as our course text precisely defines it as “the scientific study of the mental processes involved in perception, attention, memory, language, problem solving, reasoning, and decision making” (Goldstein,2011). Therefore, as interesting as the many components that make up the mind are, I too found this topic highly intriguing. For starters, prior knowledge and experiences that are gained throughout life contribute to many aspects of our cognition, and memory. Long-term memory holds memories for an extended length of time as opposed to short-term memory. It appears that a false memory, in which can be unintentionally established, is then seamlessly transformed from a short-term memory into a long-term memory. Thus, our brains interpret this data as factual events that took place. Moreover, much like you have mentioned our brains use the same constructive properties regardless of whether the memory is true or false, and these memories get stored into our memory banks. Alarming in some cases, but it is still unique how this phenomenon occurs.
Additionally, top-down processing uses the data retrieved from bottom-down processing to decipher from our expectations and experiences the overall meaning of the given intel. False memory seems to follow a similar journey. Therefore, much like your blog entails, false memory can unfortunately cause some trouble, especially in the case of eye-witness testimonials. One falsely recalled memory can be highly detrimental in the case of an eye-witness testimonial, since this can mean more than imprisonment for the person on trial. Life or death is even on the line in some trials due to the death penalty that is still active in several states. More precisely, “capital punishment is currently authorized in 27 states, by the federal government and the U.S. military” (National Conference of State Legislatures,2021). Unfortunately, that means in the case of eye-witness testimonials a false memory could leave someone wrongfully waiting on death row. False cognitions can be more harmful than helpful as you have addressed. In the case of a trial, false memories can form because the information is not “encoded correctly in the first place” and this lack of information can result in being unable to correctly “recount the events that occurred since they did not actually witness all of the details” (Cherry,2021).
Lastly false memory can result in humorous recollections of inaccurate data, but in the case of eye-witness testimonials, forensic psychology, and many other critical settings false memory can be frightening. Do you think someone experiencing a false memory would pass a lie detector test? I only ask because if they genuinely believe the memory to be true, then perhaps this lie could even override a lie detector test.
References:
Cherry, K. 2021. How false memories are formed. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/how-do-false-memories-form-2795349#:~:text=In%20many%20cases%2C%20false%20memories%20form%20because%20the,did%20not%20actually%20witness%20all%20of%20the%20details.
Goldstein, B. (2011). “Cognitive psychology: Connecting mind, research and everyday experience” (4th ed.). Wadsworth, Inc.
National Conference of State Legislatures.2021. States and capital punishment https://www.ncsl.org/research/civil-and-criminal-justice/death-penalty.aspx.
It is often seen in our daily life that our memories are not reliable.
Some people have experienced the same thing in the same place, but when they talk about it after a while, they say something completely different. Without a third witness or eyewitness, you would be framed or suffer injustice. But the scary thing here is that until they see objective evidence, they think their memories are correct, they’re telling the truth, and that other people have the wrong memories or are lying.
‘Misrepresentation’ here is a phenomenon in which we think that something that never happened has happened, but the essence is that our memory is incomplete.
What I’ve learned from reading your blog is that a false memory is when you think that an event that didn’t happen happened. Strictly speaking, the memory at this time should be viewed as a contrived story or an illusion rather than a memory. Recently, more and more people are seeking legal proceedings based on memories of sexual abuse experienced in childhood, and in this case, it is very difficult to distinguish between repressed memories and fabricated memories of events that did not occur. . According to some memory researchers, the recovery of repressed memories mainly occurs during psychotherapy, and false memories can be formed by the therapist’s suggestion or guiding question.