FALSE MEMORY SYNDROME

Memory- False Memory Syndrome

Raina Susan Roopak- 2120129

1BBA A

Bachelor of Business Administration

Psychology

Christ (Deemed to be University)

1|Page
FALSE MEMORY SYNDROME

False memory syndrome - Introduction

Memory plays a critical role in survival and must often be accurate. Memory is sometimes
inaccurate, however, and can be so in predictable ways. One form of memory inaccuracy is
false memory—i.e., the process of incorrectly remembering an event, or details of an event,
that did not actually take place (Roediger 1996). Memory is frequently compared to a video
recorder, precisely filming and retaining everything that occurs with flawless precision and
clarity. Memory, in actuality, is prone to errors. People can be certain that their memories are
correct, but this assurance is no guarantee that a particular memory is correct.

This phenomenon can manifest itself in a variety of ways, from the seemingly innocuous,
such as forgetting to lock the front door, to the far more severe, such as erroneously recalling
details of an accident you observed. Misinformation and misattribution of the original source
of the information are two factors that can influence false memory. Existing information and
memories can sometimes obstruct the creation of a new memory, generating a faulty or
wholly incorrect remembering of an event.

Memory researcher Elizabeth Loftus has demonstrated through her research that it is possible
to induce false memories through suggestion. She has also shown that these memories can
become stronger and more vivid as time goes on. Over time, memories become distorted and
begin to change. In some cases, the original memory may be changed in order to incorporate
new information or experiences.

Loftus's ground-breaking research has shown just how easily and readily false memories can
form. In one study, participants watched video of an automobile accident and were then asked
some questions about what they saw in the film. Some participants were asked 'How fast
were the cars going when they smashed into each other?' while others were asked the same
question but the words 'smashed into' were replaced with 'hit.' When the participants were
given a memory test pertaining to the accident a week later, those who had been asked the
'smashed into' question were more likely to have a false memory of seeing broken glass in the
film.

The distortion of the memory of the original event by the new information can be described
as a retroactive interference (Robinson-Riegler & Robinson-Riegler, 2004). In other words,
the new information interferes with ability to preserve the formerly encoded information. The
effect of misinformation, which has been a subject of investigation since the 1970s,
demonstrates two significant shortfalls of memory (Saudners & MacLeod, 2002).

2|Page
FALSE MEMORY SYNDROME

Review

Despite a significant amount of false memory studies, little attention has been paid to the
emotional content of an event's vulnerability to false recalls. According to the Paradoxical
Negative Emotion (PNE) hypothesis, negative emotion improves memory while also
increasing the risk of false recollections.

The first article “Psychoactive drugs and false memory: comparison of dextroamphetamine
and delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol on false recognition” (Michael E. Ballard, David A. Gallo,
and Harriet de Wit) talks about the effects of drugs on false memory. Several studies have
been conducted and conclusive evidence produced to prove the impact of psychoactive drugs
on episodic memory, however the relation of drugs to false memory still remain poorly
understood. Two parallel studies were conducted in which healthy volunteers received either
AMP (0, 10, and 20 mg) or THC (0, 7.5, and 15 mg) in within-subjects, randomized, double-
blind designs. Participants studied DRM word lists under the influence of the drugs, and their
recognition memory for the studied words was tested 2 days later, under sober conditions.

As expected, AMP increased memory of studied words relative to placebo, and THC reduced
memory of studied words. Although neither drug significantly affected false memory relative
to placebo, AMP increased false memory relative to THC. Across participants, both drugs’
effects on true memory were positively correlated with their effects on false memory. I view
that this article provided a conclusive comparison between true memory and false memory. It
shows that drugs can be one of the causes for false memory however it may not be the
primary or only cause.

The second article referred to “False memories with age: neural and cognitive
underpinnings”. (AL Devitt, DL Schacter - Neuropsychologia, 2016 – Elsevier) has
researched about the effect of age on false memory and the changes it brings about in an
individual. It is well-established that cognitive aging is associated with declines in the amount
of material remembered across a range of encoding conditions, items, and retrieval tasks
(Balota et al., 2000; Hoyer and Verhaeghen, 2006; Park et al., 2002). The strength of this
research paper is that it focuses more on medical and biological aspects to bring forth
evidence that increasing age has an increasing effect on false memory. They review the
studies and link their findings with those concerning the cognitive properties of age-related
changes in memory accuracy. Collectively this evidence points towards a prominent role for
age-related declines in medial temporal and prefrontal brain areas, and corresponding

3|Page
FALSE MEMORY SYNDROME

impairments in associative binding and strategic monitoring. Another strength of the research
paper is the consideration of both theoretical and applied implications of research. They not
only focused on the present and past research and data but also anticipated for the future.

The third article referred to “False memories in highly superior autobiographical memory
individuals” talks about individuals who may be immune to memory distortions.” The results
of the study showed that Despite their apparent accuracy of an extremely large memory store,
HSAM individuals seem to be using the same reconstructive memory mechanisms that
people with typical memory use. It seems paradoxical that the HSAM group showed
vulnerability to memory distortion yet remember an abundant amount of autobiographical
information accurately for years. The methods used in the study were as follows,
misinformation paradigm materials were presented in the form of photographical slideshows,
text narratives with some misleading items, and memory and source tests. These methods
were a strength as they are easy to understand and dependable. Non-existent news footage
was suggested both in computer questionnaires and in verbal interviews.

The fourth article referred to “Reduced False Memory after Sleep” (Fenn, Kimberly M.;
Gallo, David A.; Margoliash, Daniel; Roediger, Henry L., III; Nusbaum, Howard C.) talks
about the correlation between sleep and false memory syndrome. Several studies have shown
that sleep contributes to the successful maintenance of previously encoded information. This
research has focused exclusively on memory for studied events, as opposed to false
memories. The article being discussed reports three experiments showing that sleep reduces
false memories in the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) memory illusion. The results of
the study showed that false recognition of no studied words was reduced after sleep, relative
to an equal retention interval of wakefulness, with no change in correct recognition of studied
words. (Fenn, Kimberly M.; Gallo, David A.; Margoliash, Daniel; Roediger, Henry L., III;
Nusbaum, Howard C.) These experiments are the first to show that false memories can be
reduced following sleep, and they extend the benefits of sleep to include increased accuracy
of episodic memory.

4|Page
FALSE MEMORY SYNDROME

Conclusion

False memory syndrome is a phenomenon on which not much clarity has been received up to
date. However, these articles reviewed in this paper have provided substantial study,
explanation and evidence to the revelations in false memory. They have provided a view on
the different aspects or causes of false memory syndrome. On analysing the articles, I was
able to better understand the concept of false memory and the different scenarios it may occur
in and how it is different for different individuals.

5|Page
FALSE MEMORY SYNDROME

References

 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3876244/?tool=pmcentrez

 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4244903/?tool=pmcentrez

 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5075259/?tool=pmcentrez

 http://learnmem.cshlp.org/content/16/9/509.full.pdf+html

6|Page