Memory error: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Error caused by a memory fault}}

'''Memory gaps and errors''' refer to the incorrect [[Recall (memory)|recall]], or complete loss, of information in the [[memory]] system for a specificcertain detail and/or event. Memory errors may include remembering events that never occurred, or remembering them differently from the way they actually happened.<ref name="Roediger">Roediger, H. L., III, & McDermott, K. B. (1995). Creating false memories: Remembering words not presented in lists. ''Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 21'', 803–814</ref> These errors or gaps can occur due to a number of different reasons, including the emotional involvement in the situation, expectations and environmental changes. As the retention interval between [[Encoding (memory)|encoding]] and retrieval of the memory lengthens, there is an increase in both the amount that is forgotten, and the likelihood of a memory error occurring.

==Overview==

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===Transience===

Transience refers to forgetting what occurs with the passage of time.<ref name = Schacter243>{{cite book|last=Schacter|first=Daniel|title=Psychology 2nd Ed.|year=2011|publisher=Worth Publishers|___location=New York|pages=243}}</ref> Transience occurs during the storage phase of memory, after an experience has been encoded and before it is retrieved.<ref name = Schacter243 /> As time passes, the quality of our memory also changes, deteriorating from specific to more general.<ref name = Schacter243 /> German philosopher named Hermann Ebbinghaus decided to measure his own memory for lists of nonsense syllables at various times after studying them. He decided to draw out a curve of his forgetting pattern over time. He realized that there is a rapid drop-off in retention during the first tests and there is a slower rate of forgetting later on.<ref name = Schacter243 /> Therefore, transience denotes the gradual change of a specific knowledge or idea into more general memories.<ref>Schacter, Daniel L.,["Psychology 2nd Ed."],"Worth Publishers", 2009, 2011.</ref>

===Absentmindedness===

Absentmindedness is a gap in attention which causes memory failure. In this situation the information does not disappear from memory, it can later be recalled. But the lack of attention at a specific moment prevents the information from being recalled at that specific moment. A common cause of absentmindedness is a lack of attention.{{Clarify|date=March 2018}} Attention is vital to encoding information in long-term memory. Without proper attention, material is much less likely to be stored properly and recalled later.<ref name="Schacter, Daniel L. 2011">Schacter, Daniel L., Daniel T. Gilbert, and Daniel M. Wegner. "Chapter 6: Memory." Psychology. ; Second Edition. N.p.: Worth, Incorporated, 2011. 244-45.</ref> When attention is divided, less activity in the lower left frontal lobe diminishes the ability for elaborative memory encoding to take place, and results in absentminded forgetting. More recent research has shown that divided attention also leads to less hippocampal involvement in encoding.<ref name="Schacter, Daniel L. 2011"/> A common example of absentmindedness is not remembering to carry out actions that had been planned to be done in the future, for example, picking up grocery items, and remembering times of meetings.<ref>Schacter, Daniel L., Daniel T. Gilbert, and Daniel M. Wegner. "Chapter 6: Memory." Psychology. ; Second Edition. N.p.: Worth, Incorporated, 2011. 245.</ref>

===False memories===

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Memory errors regarding the recovery of repressed childhood abuse can occur due to post-event suggestions from a trusted source, such as a family member, or more commonly, a mental health professional. Due to possible relationships between childhood abuse and [[mental illness]] later in life, some mental health professionals believe in the [[Freudian theory]] of repressed memories as a defense mechanism for the anxiety that recall of the abuse would cause. Freud said that repression operates unconsciously in individuals who are not able to recall a threatening situation or may even forget that the abusive individual was ever part of their lives. Therefore, mental health professionals will sometimes seek to uncover possible instances of childhood abuse in patients, which may lead to [[suggestibility]] and cause a [[false memory]] of childhood abuse to arise, in an attempt to seek a cause to a mental illness.<ref name="lindsay">Lindsay, D.S., & Read, J.D. (1994). Psychotherapy and memories of childhood sexual abuse: A cognitive perspective. ''Applied Cognitive Psychology, 8'', 281–338.</ref> No matter the confidence in the memory, this does not necessarily equate to the memory being true. This is an example of the [[misinformation effect]] and false memory effect. The fact that memories are not retrieved as whole entities but rather are reconstructed from information remaining in memory and other related knowledge make them easily susceptible to memory errors.<ref name="hyman">Hyman Jr., I.E., & Pentland, J. (1996). The role of mental imagery in the creation of false childhood memories. ''Journal of Memory and Language, 35'', 101–117.</ref> This explains why working with mental health professionals and [[Suggestibility|leading questions]] can sometimes manifest false memories by creating knowledge of possible events and asking individuals to focus on if these events actually took place.<ref name="lindsay2">Lindsay, D.S., & Read, J.D. (1995). Memory work and recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse: Scientific evidence and public, professional, and personal issues. ''Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 1''(4), 846–908</ref> Individuals begin to overthink these situations visualizing them in their mind and overanalyzing them. This in turn leads to the belief of situations and vivid memories. Patients are left with memories they believe are real and new events from their childhood which can lead to stress and trauma in their adult life and loss of relationships with those who are believed to be the abuser.

== See also ==

* [[Amnesia]]

* [[False memory syndrome]]

* [[Memory implantation]]

* [[Memory loss]]

* [[Memory and aging]]

* [[Memory bias]]

* [[Memory conformity]]

* [[KleptomnesiaMemory disorder]]

==References==