The Fascinating Concept of False Memories

There is this particular memory from my childhood that I often think about. It happened when I was around 5 years old and was returning home after school. The route from the main gate to our house was a rough one, covered with pebbles and shrubs. As a kid, I used to love hopping. That afternoon too, right after I walked past the gate, I started hopping my way towards our house, feeling exhilarated. A few seconds later, I tripped over a big rock and fell down, crying. Too hurt to move, I sat there, wailing until an aunty who lived at our neighbouring house carried me and took me home. I remember this story pretty vividly and recently related it to my parents. They, however, told me that it wasn’t our neighbour but in fact our gardener that carried me and brought me home. They were certain about this and it got me thinking- why do I remember this story differently? Why don’t I remember our gardener helping me? Was it because I was too involved in my pain to pay attention to my surroundings or had this memory somehow changed over the years?

What I experienced there was the formation of a false memory.

False memory refers to when an individual remembers something in a way that was different from what actually happened. In most cases, this could be an actual memory that had distorted elements or additions. In other cases, the individual might recall memories that never actually took place. Most people consider their memory to be pretty reliable. In the case of false memories, as well, people tend to be confident about what they remember, and convincing them otherwise can be difficult. This phenomenon can occur in so many ways, whether it is you confidently convincing your mother that you’ve washed the dishes and finding the heap of unwashed plates in the basin; or falsely remembering details of a traumatic event from your past.

While people may often tend to confuse false memory with memory errors, they are in fact, different. Memory errors occur often- it could be forgetting or mixing up small details of a memory. False memory, however, makes us recall something that did not happen or something that’s very different from what actually took place.

False memories can be caused by small factors, some of which are:
– Inaccurate perception: This refers to the problem the person experiences in perceiving elements of the event while it is happening, i.e., when the memory is being encoded. For example, during a car accident, an eyewitness may have only caught a glimpse of the driver’s face, not allowing him/her to complete processing the information they just received, thus making it harder for them to remember clearly later on.

– Inferences: A witness to an event is constantly trying to make sense of what is happening during the event. While trying to figure this out, they often make use of prior knowledge. They may try to extract meaning from events which can lead to confusions on what was inferred versus what actually happened.

– Interference: Memories are usually recalled after some time has passed since the event. During the time between the occurrence of the event and the retrieval of this memory, several other things may have happened. For example, one eyewitness to a crime may have spoken to other witnesses of the same crime; or read about the crime in the local newspaper. All these may yield representations that are very different from what actually occurred during the time of the event. This newly gained information can block access to the actual memory of the event. Thus, when the individual tries retrieving the original memory, it gets influenced and distorted by the newly formed memories.

– Similarity: Similarity can lead to the person being confused about elements of the actual event. False memories can occur when subjects incorrectly endorse new details on a recognition test because of their similarity to original events. For example, a lady gets mugged in broad daylight. Later on, she describes to the police the appearance of the man that mugged her. Soon, the police bring a group of suspects that adhere to the description provided by the lady. She is likely to pick the suspect that resembles the culprit the most; someone who looks very similar to him. However, later, in another crime, another man who looks like the one who got convicted is caught and confesses to the previous mugging of the lady. Hence, we see that the man who was convicted wasn’t actually guilty but his similarity to the actual culprit caused the lady’s false memory to be formed.

While on first thought, false memories seem to be harmless, there are several emerging stories on the harmful consequences of false memories, particularly surrounding incidents of crimes and sexual violence. They can lead to false accusations and false events that can badly affect both the accused and the accuser. For example, a 26-year-old preschool teacher in 1994 had to serve four years in jail after being convicted of 115 counts of sexually abusing 20 children who were in her care. A later review by a committee of almost 50 scientists found out that many of the claims made against the defendant were tainted by false memories. As a result, the defendant’s conviction was overturned.
False memories can also be fatal. Every year in the United States, dozens of children die in hot cars, often after being forgotten by their caregivers. While this may seem like an act of neglect or carelessness, the caregivers turn out to be loving and caring, but another unlucky victim of false memories
While false memories are very common and can happen with anybody, it is important to acknowledge that unlike we think, our memory is not always flawless and dependable; it is often vulnerable to misinformation and fallacy.

References:
Howe ML, Knott LM. The fallibility of memory in judicial processes: lessons from the past and their modern consequences. Memory. 2015;23(5):633-56. doi:10.1080/09658211.2015.1010709
Rice D. USA Today. In the past 20 years, 800 children died while trapped inside oven-like cars. Updated May 7, 2019.