Memories, misinformation, and you
The next time you’re reminiscing with a friend or family member, pay attention to the differences in your recollection of events you shared in common. I bet it’ll be eye-opening. But, don’t bother arguing about who’s right.
Because we all take in sensory information differently, you’re not likely to agree.
We have an unimaginable amount of memory storage available to us. Our minds take in sensory information all around us, every day, all day. That’s amazing if you stop to think about it.
All of the input gets analyzed and sorted. Some of it goes into working memory. Some of it disappears. But some gets pushed along into our long- term memory.
A few years ago, I thought the process looked a little like this.
Information comes in through our senses. A greeter determines if it’s relevant. If not, “poof!” it’s gone. But if the greeter thinks it’s important it gets pushed to working memory. Maybe it’s a phone number or an address. We all know we have to repeat those numbers or, “poof!” they’re gone, too.
But, sometimes that information needs to be kept longer so it gets pushed to long-term memory.
Then one day we’re asked about our childhood address or phone number. (We had to actually know that information or our parents would kick our butts.) It’s all in long-term memory. Somewhere.
When it’s located, the transfer begins, and it returns to working memory. I bet you’re recalling your childhood address and phone number right now.
Now I think of long-term memory more like a filing system. There’s a ton of files tucked away waiting for me to say, “Hey, I need that one!”
The unfortunate part of all this amazing storage is that we don’t have unlimited access to all of the information we file away. Sometimes we need a special key like the scent of a particular food to trigger the memory before we’re able to retrieve it.
Sometimes in a real file cabinet stuff gets lost or mixed up because so many people are handling the file.
But, in this case, it’s us handling the file at different ages and stages of our lives.
Each time we dig the file out, we affect the memory so when it gets put back it’s different. Mood, goals, and environment all can tweak our memories. Consequently, each time we retrieve it, the memory has changed a little bit.
I went fishing in the mountains of Wyoming, or was it, Colorado? Anyway, I went fishing and got so excited because, for the first time, I caught a fish. It was tiny.
This is a real memory I have, and I think the fish gets smaller every time I tell the story. Most people would probably make it bigger, but for some reason, my fish went from maybe five or six inches to tiny. Maybe I thought it made the story funnier.
Memories are fragile.
In fact, they’re so easily manipulated that people can be made to believe they saw something that wasn’t there.
Loftus and Palmer (1974) decided to test this. In the first experiment, 45 participants were separated into groups of varying sizes to watch a video of a car crash. For each group, the speed of the car differed. Then the researchers asked how fast the car was going. The only difference between the groups’ question was the verb used to describe the event.
For example, “About how fast were the cars going when they smashed/collided/bumped/ hit / contacted each other?” When participants read “smashed,” they tended to interpret the speed of the cars as going faster. “Bumped” gave the impression that they were moving slower.
The verb had more of an effect on participants’ estimates of car speed than the actual speed of the car.
Another explanation for this result is response-bias because the participants might have been choosing between two speeds that were close. If this is true, then they might choose the word that more strongly matched their interpretation. Loftus and Palmer tested this, too.
The second experiment involved watching a video of a car accident. This time participants were asked, one week later, whether there was any broken glass as a result of the accident.
Again, the researchers changed the verb used to describe the accident. When a stronger verb, such as “smashed” was used, participants were more likely to report seeing glass after the collision. There was no glass.
This effect is called the misinformation effect. You’re told something after the fact that changes your recollection of the event. Scary, right? Here’s Dr. Loftus in action:
When we construct stories about ourselves, they’re often based on memories that we’ve inadvertently manipulated simply by recalling them time and again.
They also can get changed by other people recounting their version of us in that story but from their perspective. This could have a misinformation effect.
This is important to remember when we construct the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves or when we buy into the stories others tell us about ourselves.
For example, I’m not the tough-as-nails person that I was in my early twenties. But if you asked my family about that, the story would be different. I’m still that person from their perspective. Their version of me still is based on their memories of me way back when.
They haven’t been privy to all of the experiences I’ve had since then. Those experiences and my memories of them shaped who I’ve become.
The point to remember is that our memories help create how we see ourselves. They define who we are in this moment and the next, but they’re fragile and can be manipulated.
What stories about yourself are moving you closer to your goals in life?
Have you gone fishing lately? How big was the fish you caught?
Memories, misinformation, and you
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