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memory
You vividly remember events that never happened.
In a 1995 study, 25% of participants formed false memories of being lost in a shopping mall after being prompted with a narrative.
The human memory is reconstructive rather than a recording device. When you recall an event, your brain integrates new information and suggestions, overwriting the original storage.
Your personal history is a constant revision.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Elizabeth Loftus, 'The formation of false memories', 1995
- What the check found
- The study by Loftus and Pickrell (1995) is correctly cited as identifying the 25% false memory rate, though researchers caution against generalizing these findings to trauma.
- Confidence
- Well replicated
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.