Creating False Memories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Creating False Memories - Essay Example The act of recall enhanced later remembering of both studied and nonstudied material. The results reveal a powerful illusion of memory: People remember events that never happened. False memories-either remembering events that never happened, or remembering them quite differently from the way they happened-have recently captured the attention of both psychologists and the public at large. The primary impetus for this recent surge of interest is the increase in the number of cases in which memories of previously unrecognized abuse are reported during the course of therapy. Some researchers have argued that certain therapeutic practices can cause the creation of false memories, and therefore, the apparent "recovery" of memories during the course of therapy may actually represent the creation of memories (Lindsay & Read, 1994; Loftus, 1993). Although the concept of false memories is currently enjoying an increase in publicity, it is not new; psychologists have been studying false memories in several laboratory paradigms for years. Schacter (1995) provides an historical overview of the study of memory distortions. Schacter (1996) spoke of the fragile nature of memory and the Seven Sins of memory, discussing how our memories can fail us in certain situations. Where is the weakness in a memory system that functions according to the principle of semantic relatedness and integration There is one well-known case of false memories being produced in a list learning paradigm: Underwood (1965) introduced a technique to study false recognition of words in lists. He gave subjects a continuous recognition task in which they decided if each presented word had been given previously in the list. Later words bore various relations to previously studied words. Underwood showed that words associatively related to previously presented words were falsely recognized. Anisfeld and Knapp (1968), among others, replicated the phenomenon. Cognitive psychology is the scientific study of human memory and mental processes, including such activities as perceiving, remembering, using language, reasoning and solving problems. There are two important lessons in cognitive psychology. First, mental processes can occur with very little conscious awareness. This is especially true of processes that have received a great deal of practice, such as reading skills. Second, even though these processes can operate very quickly, they are quite complex, involving difficult motor, perceptual and mental acts. Their complexities make it even more amazing how efficient, rapid, and seemingly automatic they are. Intuitive analysis of examples such as "How many hands does Aristotle have" indicates that many important mental processes can occur automatically, that is, very rapidly and below the level of conscious awareness. Memory consists of the power, act, or process of recalling to mind facts previously learned or past experiences. It also refers to process, mental act in which stored information is recovered for some current use. Aside from this, memory also refers to a place, a location, where all the events, information, and knowledge of a lifetime are stored. Cognition, on the other hand, refers to all the processes by which the sensory input is