Bugs of memory

Elizabeth recruited a group of volunteers and told them she was studying childhood memories. For this purpose, she and her colleagues had spoken with their parents and would now tell the volunteers 4 stories from their childhood. In reality, only 3 stories were true, while the fourth was made up by the experimenters. It told of how the subject got lost in a shopping mall, and then some kind person helped them find their parents.

As a result, a quarter of the subjects later believed this story and confidently retold it, "remembering" additional details. Thus, false memories were implanted in them.

The experiment was conducted in 1995 and repeated, including in 2023. The sample size was larger, and the number of believers was 75%.

An experiment that shows the power of words' influence on our memories.

Volunteers watched a video of a car accident where 2 cars collided. Then participants were asked to estimate how fast the cars were moving, but different groups of volunteers were asked differently. The following formulations were used:

1. How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other
2. How fast were the cars going when they collided
3. What was the speed of the cars before they contacted each other

Participants estimated the speed differently, depending on which word was used.

A week later, the experimenters contacted the participants again and, among other things, asked them to recall whether they noticed glass shards at the accident scene. As a result, volunteers who were asked about cars that "smashed" were twice as likely to remember shards.

Many similar experiments have been conducted. Our memory is not a camera that impartially records what happens; it is subject to distortions and false memories. But this is just a side effect of the incredible flexibility of our brain, thanks to which we can memorize large volumes of information, connect some facts with others, use analogies and categorization, and much more.