False Memories

              Everyone is affected by false memories, even those with the best memories. After reading the article “Remember that? No You Don’t. Study Shows False Memories Afflict Us All,” I started thinking of my own experiences with false memories. A friend once told me a story in middle school about him zipping up his backpack without noticing someone’s hair got caught in the zipper. He ran off down the hall after a group of friends, and accidentally dragged the person along with him. We have laughed about this story for years. The only problem is our other friend swears it actually was him that ran off with someone caught in the zipper. Both have been retelling the story for years, yet neither can remember who it actually happened too. According to the article, these occurrences happen to everyone, but what causes these false memories to be triggered? In this scenario the one who it actually happened to, obviously told the other. From there the story was told by the other person so many times, that eventually it became his own. For years I believed that one person lied so many times that it became true to them, but after reading this article it showed that the memory was distorted throughout the years, as the brain couldn’t store the entire memory clearly.

             

             In the article, the researchers tested false memories by taking individuals with both strong and normal memories, and asked them questions that were designed to bate them into false memories. One example was talking to the subjects about video of United flight 93 crashing, which does not exist. 1 out of 5 subjects would say they remembered seeing the footage and would talk about it in detail. This reminded me of the Jimmy Kimmel Live segment, “Lie Witness News.” In this segment they find people on the street and ask them about fake news stories. The people will then respond like they knew about it, and give fake information about the subject. The beating of an individual into a false memory seems connected to what we have discussed in class about framing. The person asking the question is bating the person into the false memory, by framing how they ask the question. Whether it’s a question about an event that is well remembered or a fake reporter with a camera asking a seemingly legit news question, the question is framed for the person to believe whatever they see and/or speak.