False memory: the most important information – Web Medicine
False memory is a health condition that refers to cases in which people may remember events differently from how they originally occurred, and may in other cases cause the memory of situations that did not occur at all.,
What do we mean by false memory?
Memories that may seem real to some people, but in fact they are fabricated, either partially or completely, for example, there are those who will think that they turned on the washing machine before leaving the house and upon returning home, they find that they did. don’t do it
What you must know is that most false memories are not intentionally malicious or harmful, they are just transformations or reconstructions of memory that do not correspond to real events and reality.
What are the causes of false memories?
A false memory can arise from a variety of reasons and sources, and here we will refer to some of them:
1. Disorders
Distorting the memory of the original event with new information can be described as retroactive interference, meaning that the new information may interfere with the ability to memorize previously encoded information, thereby revealing a weak suggestiveness of how other people’s expectations may shape our memory.
In addition to revealing a misattribution error, how a memory can misidentify the source of those memories.
2. Misleading information
This is misinformation usually provided to a witness after an event has occurred, and can have many sources such as leading questions that occur during police interviews.
It can also be obtained through some restrictive discussions after the event with some other witnesses.
When eyewitnesses question an event immediately after a relevant event, the memory representation of what just happened can be dramatically altered, causing a condition known as false memory.
3. Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Some people with OCD have memory deficits, or have low memory confidence at all.
This disorder is caused by abnormal responses of certain areas of the brain to serotonin, a condition characterized by irrational and excessive urges to act in certain ways, as well as succumbing to repetitive and unwanted thoughts.
4. Other reasons
A false memory may also be caused by certain situations and other influencing factors, for example:,
- Some false memories are created.
- Inaccurate perception.
- Incorrect attribution.
- emotions.
- Lack of sleep.
What is the potential impact of a false memory?
It is worth noting that, as mentioned earlier, these false or false memories often have no effect, but in other cases it has been found that a false memory can have serious effects.
The researchers found that false memories may be one of the main causes of false convictions, which are often made through false identification of the suspect, or false memories during police investigations of an incident.
Which groups are most vulnerable to false memories?
There are a group of groups that are most likely to suffer from a false memory condition, based on the reasons presented in the previous paragraphs.
Among the most famous examples of these categories are the following:,
- eye witness.
- People with a history of trauma, depression or stress.
- People with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
- Older people with age, some of the details in the memory begin to fade little by little.
