Research sheds light on how we pick and choose among distorted memories to create our identity. But is that a bad thing?
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Articles on False memory
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This episode of The Anthill podcast delves into the world of memory. We talk to psychologists, historians and political scientists about how and why we remember some things and forget others.
What you end up remembering isn’t always what you have witnessed.
Alternate realities don't just exist in politics – and not all falsehoods are lies. Distortions of the truth can range from a normal part of human nature to pathological.
What's going on in the brain when something seems familiar but we don't know why.
The more information you have about a subject, the more likely it is that new information will trigger associated memories.
Memories help you gloss over those ugly bits with minimum fuss.
Traumatic memories recovered from the unconscious during therapy are more likely to be false memories than real.
In the years after a traumatic news event, we're prone to confuse things we saw on TV with what we witnessed in person.
Historic use of "recovered memory" therapy led to false allegations of abuse that continue to haunt the families involved.
Many of us have asked ourselves in the past few days: can you really falsely remember something as significant as being in a helicopter that was shot down? And many of us probably think “No way,” and quickly…
Twenty eyewitnesses testified before the grand jury investigating the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. None of these accounts is fully consistent with any other. Moreover, eyewitnesses…
Memory is an essential part of our existence. Who we are, what we know and what we think can all be derived from our ability…
“Time is the thief of memory,” wrote Stephen King in one of his many books. For some people, however, that is not true. They…
Top contributors
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Professor of Cognitive Psychology, City, University of London
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Professor of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London
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Research Assistant Professor in Neuroscience, University of Western Australia
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Jee Hyun Kim is a Friend of The Conversation.
Head of Developmental Psychobiology Lab, Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health
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Senior research fellow, University of Sydney
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Assistant Professor, University of California, Irvine
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Professor; Director of Research Development and Environment, School of Journalism, Cardiff University
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Professor of Psychology, Iowa State University
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Senior Lecturer in History, Anglia Ruskin University
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Assistant Professor of Psychology, Lehigh University
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Associate Professor in the Media School, Indiana University
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Ronald W. Pies is a Friend of The Conversation.
Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, Lecturer on Bioethics & Humanities at SUNY Upstate Medical University; and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Tufts University School of Medicine, Tufts University
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Professor of Psychology, University of Hull
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Senior Lecturer in Psychology, City, University of London
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Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Keele University
