Can We Trust Our Memories - 2578 Words

Can we trust our memories? People rely on memories to make judgments on everything from voting for political candidates to deciding what to eat at a restaurant. However, memory is not always reliable. Previous research has established that memory is vulnerable and susceptible to confabulations under specific circumstances (1, 3, 9, 11, 12, 13). Misremembering information or an event can influence subsequent decisions, sometimes with drastic consequences. In order to prevent these adverse consequences, we must begin by understanding the mechanisms involved in producing false memories. There are many models of confabulation (see 7 for a review), but one of the most prominent is the source monitoring framework. This framework divides the memory into two separate components: the source memory, and familiarity. These two components interact together to explain many memory confabulations. Recalling information is not all that is required for accurate memories. Remembering the context of th e information is often more difficult and leads to higher accuracy in memories overall. This is the source memory, which requires an effortful and explicit memory of the source of information or episode (7). Memory of information or of an episode without memory of its source leaves people with only a sense of familiarity; it is this state that can lead to many errors in memory and judgment. When people only have a sense of familiarity for information, they tend to attribute it to the mostShow MoreRelatedWendy : A Very Simple Job1488 Words   |  6 Pagesof her. Trust is a sacred and integral part of humanity. Offering unadulterated trust to someone or something upon first encounter is undeniably foolish, yet it is all too common for people to give their absolute trust to technology at their first chance. It has become commonplace to overly trust technology to give us an opinion, have our private information, and be our memory. By trusting technology with these three important parts of our humanity we force dependency upon ourselves. We then, areRead MoreThe Impact of Memory on Voting Behaviors809 Words   |  3 PagesThe Impact of Memory on Voting Behaviors In The Determinants and Consequences of Recall Error about Gulf War Preferences, Mark Joslyn examines the effects of outside influences on the opinions of voters. Specifically, Joslyn explores errors in autobiographical memories of opinions of the governments involvement in the Gulf War and studies the change of opinions of individuals pre and post war. Memories are an important factor when making political decisions. It is necessary to study theseRead MorePerception, Introspection, Reason And Memory Essay1491 Words   |  6 Pagesintrospection, reason and memory. All our knowledge roots from our perception. Perception is the way humans sense the world outside the body. We perceive through our five senses: see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. 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The protagonist of the movie,Read MoreAfter The First Two Weeks Of Class, A First Year Teacher1262 Words   |  6 Pagespersonal level. What she knew about her disinterested student is that he had experienced a traumatic life event and was physically abused as a young child. He was not in a stable or safe environment for extended periods of time and found it difficult to trust adults. He was hesitant to open up and discuss his feelings. During class, he kept to himself and shut down when directly addressed. The teacher emphasized how open-dialogue and communication contributed to developing his cognitive and social skills