Can We Really Alter Memories?
By Maryn Somerville
Childhood is an entire generation of innocent milestones that influence us into the people we are. But, have you ever remembered something from the past only to be told it didn’t happen exactly how you thought it did? Memory is not like a constant video recording but is more like moldable clay that you can shape-shift. Memory is fascinating, and when we think of recollection, we often think of a snapshot frozen in time, but science shows us that it’s not so simple. Memories are more like stories we tell ourselves about our lives, and sometimes we add a little creativity to those stories! “Memory is not like a constant video recording but is more like moldable clay that you can shape-shift” (Andreus, 2012) .
I’m currently taking a class called Human Memory, and we've been exploring Julia Shaw’s Memory Illusion book. One part that really caught my attention is about something called pseudo-recollections, which are essentially made-up memories that our brains create. For instance, there’s an interesting experiment where people are shown words that are related like; bed, wake, rest, and dream. Later, when asked to recall the words, they often mistakenly include a different word that fits the theme like sleep, even though it wasn’t part of the original list. This shows that our minds can sometimes trick us into remembering things that never actually happened, highlighting how easily our memories can be influenced (McDonald, 2016).
Our memories are more flexible than we often realize. Not only can other people influence our memories, but we can also unknowingly change them ourselves. Every time we think about a memory or share it with someone else, it's possible that we add in new details or mix things up a bit. For instance, when we hear someone else talk about a shared experience, our recollection of that event might shift as we incorporate their perspective. A research assistant named Sam Behrens explains that sometimes we might even forget certain details or blend different experiences together to find a common theme. Additionally, if we don’t revisit a memory regularly, it can fade away, making it harder to remember over time. But forgetting isn't necessarily a bad thing—it's a natural part of how our brains work. As we create new memories, we might not have the mental energy to hold onto all the old ones, and that’s perfectly normal.
Memory recollection plays a considerable part in criminal cases because many crimes can include an eyewitness. Usually, when a crime is involved, your emotions will heighten, which can either enhance or impair your recollection of the event. An article posted by Joyce Lacy and Craig Stark (2013) claims that memory distortion involves some form of misleading information. The ‘misinformation effect’ is used in trials for witness testimonies where misleading information is given unintentionally with subtle wording variations (Lacy & Craig, 2013). Such as “How fast did the car bump into the pole?” versus “How fast did the car smash into the pole?”. Witnesses would report faster speeds with the word smash rather than a bump, even when they watched the duplicate footage in both conditions.
It has been brought to our attention that in fields such as criminal justice, we rely too heavily on eyewitnesses and must shift toward evidence because of our shapeshifting memory. I want to see more leeway for human memory in the justice system as we have realized our eyewitnesses can create false recollections. The science behind memory is fascinating, but it is also humbling to realize that our memories can sometimes be shaped without our knowledge. As we grow older, I recognize that our life recollections are shaped by our identity, even if they don’t always tell the exact story of what happened!
References
Andreus. (2012). Memory loss. Retrieved from https://depositphotos.com/photo/losing-memories-10392971.html.
Cohut, M. (2019, April 5). Can scientists “hack” memory? Healthline Media. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324900
Lacy, J., & Stark, C. (2013, August 14). The Neuroscience of Memory: Implications for the courtroom. National Library of Medicine. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4183265/
McDonald, H. (2016, July 18). Future Thinking and False Memories . Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/time-travelling-apollo/201607/future-thinking-and-false-memories