Assignment - II

Aug 24, 2024

TOCI-II | Machine Learning

Submitted to
Introduction
False memory can be defined as a manifestation in which people tend to remember events in
a way that deviates from the way the actual event took place. In some instances, people
remember things that never happened at all due to the configuration of experience. Usually,
false memories may be so vibrant in the human mind and people may hold the memory with
a high degree of poise. Therefore, it may be very difficult to convince someone holding the
false memory that whatever he/she believes in is not right. Psychologists have argued that the
occurrence of false memories is as real as those of true memories, and they originate from the
experiences that cause true memories. Therefore, the study and understanding of false
memory creates an insight into the understanding of how human memory operates.
Psychologists have tried to conduct experimental research in the laboratory to determine the
factors behind false memory. The aim of this research paper is to carry out systematic review
of available literature on false memory and discuss the theories that explain false memory as

well as highlight the potential factors leading to false memory among individuals.

Methodology
In this research, systematic review of both electronic and literature materials on false memory
are done. The choice of the materials for review is guided by the laboratory findings on False
Memory. It is important to appreciate that various psychologists have done laboratory
experiments in order to develop theories that explain the occurrence of false memories in
human beings. This research conducts a systematic review on available literature talking
about False Memory in order to understand the occurrence false memory among human
beings.

Literature Review
Various psychologists have done research on memory and the various disorders associated
with it. Distortion of the memory, for example, has been an area that has attracted the interest
and attention of different psychologists.
According to Carmichael et al. the way forms are considered determines the way they can be
remembered. They gave an example of how the human memory reflects two circles that are
joined using a straight line. They argued that, in the memory, the two circles are perceived as
eyeglasses. The human memory tends to associate events with what they already have in the
memory (Tversky, 2008).
Moreover, Deese in 1959 and Underwood in 1965 reiterated the fact that people can easily
fall victims of false memory in remembering items. They argued that if an individual already
had an encounter with something related to an item presented, they can easily falsely
remember the item an consider it to be the other one they had interacted with. For instance, a
pestle can be false remembered if one had encountered a pestle and mortar in the past.
Much later in 1981, Johnson and Raye regarded memory distortions to be associated with
flawed processes that bring faulty reality. They hinted that in the process of remembering and
recall, human beings occasionally confuse the information in the process of encoding and
reproducing information. Triggering information already stored in the memory sometimes
lead to misrepresentation of the existing reality. Furthermore, errors in encoding may occur
due to an imbalance between internal and external sources of information for instance, a
person may attribute what is seen to what is imagined.
In a research, E. Loftus initiated experimental research in 1970s with the intention to
investigate the influence on the memory information about the witnessing of an event and the
actual testimony about the event sometime later (Loftus E. F., 1978). In the study, people
were watched a film on an accident involving an automobile. Later, the same people were
asked to respond to some question about the event that they had watched (Loftus, 1995).
When asked about the event, people had different answers for the same questions framed in
different ways. Loftus laboratory experiments involving films were very successful in the
study of the human memory and how false memories come about.
In his conclusions on his experiments on memory, Loftus said that false memories occur
mainly due to errors that result from source monitoring. Confusions arise from an imbalance
between the self-generated inference and the real event. Therefore, cognitive processes that
involve information production, expansion and integration across individual experiences from
different sources reveal associative, visionary and rational processes that are prerequisite for
intricate thinking. Any fallacies in these cognitive processes make human beings susceptible
to false memories.

Problem Statement
Can we say that human experiences are a major reason for the occurrence of false memory?
The fact that experiences remain in the mind for a human being is perceived to be a major
reason for the occurrence of false memory among many individuals. Usually, the human
mind tends to focus much on experiences that leave bitter memories in their lives. When a
person thinks of that same experience, false memories are likely to arise associating what has
happened with their past. This research seeks to conduct systematic literature review on the
works on false memory in a psychological point of view and determine the factors that
majorly cause false memories in human. In this research, literature based on laboratory
findings on false memory done by psychologists will be considered relevant for analysis and
review because they provide information that have been obtained through scientific
approaches.

Guideline Questions for the Systematic Review

In order to conduct the systematic review on the topic of False Memory in Psychology,
the following questions are important to be answered by the research materials available
on this are of interest:
  What is the psychological meaning of False Memory?
 How false memories are formed?
 What are the causes of False Memory?
 How these False Memory effects human life and also on Society?
 What are the solutions to come out this false memory trauma?
 What are the theories that explain the occurrence of False Memory?

What is the psychological meaning of False Memory?

False memories are memories of events or experiences that did not actually happen, or
memories of events that happened but with significant distortions or alterations. These types
of memories can be influenced by a variety of factors, including suggestion, imagination, and
the passage of time. False memories can have a number of different psychological effects,
including causing people to doubt their own memories and experiences, and leading to
misunderstandings or conflicts with others. They can also have implications for legal
proceedings, as false memories can lead people to testify or act based on inaccurate
recollections.

How false memories are formed?

False memories are memories of events or situations that did not actually happen. There are a
number of ways in which false memories can be formed, including:

Misattribution: This occurs when someone attributes a memory to the wrong source, such
as remembering an event that they read about rather than an event that they experienced
firsthand.

Suggestibility: This occurs when someone is influenced by others to remember things a

certain way, such as through leading questions or suggestions from others.

Confabulation: This occurs when someone fills in gaps in their memory with made-up
details, often without realizing that they are doing so.

Imagination: Someone may create a false memory through the act of imagination, such as
by vividly imagining a situation that never actually occurred.

Misinformation effect: This occurs when someone is exposed to incorrect information

about an event and later remembers the event in a way that is influenced by the
misinformation.

Theories that explains the occurrence of false memories

There are several theories that have been proposed to explain the occurrence of false
memories.

Strength hypothesis
The strength hypothesis states that in strong situations (situations where one course of action
is encouraged more than any other course of action due to the objective payoff) people are
expected to demonstrate rational behavior, basing their behavior on the objective payoff.
An example of this is the laws of a country. Most of its citizens, no matter how daring, will
conform to these laws, because the objective payoff is personal safety.

Construction hypothesis
The construction hypothesis says that if a true piece of information being provided can alter a
respondent's answer, then so can a false piece of information.

Construction hypothesis has major implications for explanations on the malleability of

memory. Upon asking a respondent a question that provides a presupposition, the respondent
will provide a recall in accordance with the presupposition (if accepted to exist in the first
place). The respondent will recall the object or detail.

Skeleton theory
Loftus developed what some refer to as "the skeleton theory" after having run an experiment
involving 150 subjects from the University of Washington. Loftus noticed that when a
presupposition was one of false information it could only be explained by the construction
hypothesis and not the strength hypothesis. Loftus then stated that a theory needed to be
created for complex visual experiences where the construction hypothesis plays a
significantly more important role than situational strength. She presented a diagram as a
"skeleton" of this theory, which later became referred to by some as the skeleton theory.

The skeleton theory explains the procedure of how a memory is recalled, which is split into
two categories: the acquisition processes and the retrieval processes.

The acquisition processes are in three separate steps. First, upon the original encounter, the
observer selects a stimulus to focus on. The information that the observer can focus on
compared to all of the information occurring in the situation as a whole, is very limited. In
other words, a lot is going on around us and we only pick up on a small portion. This forces
the observer to begin by selecting a focal point for focus. Second, our visual perception must
be translated into statements and descriptions. The statements represent a collection of
concepts and objects; they are the link between the event occurrence and the recall. Third, the
perceptions are subject to any "external" information being provided before or after the
interpretation. This subsequent set of information can reconstruct the memory.
The retrieval processes come in two steps. First, the memory and imagery are regenerated.
This perception is subject to what foci the observer has selected, along with the information
provided before or after the observation. Second, the linking is initiated by a statement
response, "painting a picture" to make sense of what was observed. This retrieval process
results in either an accurate memory or a false memory.

Source Monitoring Theory of False Memory

The theory is based on the assumption that people misrepresent perceptual information that is
experienced different contexts to support memory for events that did not take place.
This theory believes that the existence of several sources of perceptual information about
something or event increases the tendency of an individual to believe that they have
experienced something even when it is not true (Linda Henkel, 2000). Usually, people have
sources of information on something through sound, feeling, tasting, sight or experiencing it.
Once the sources of information are more, the likelihood of having false memory is very
high.
The theory holds it that the existence of false memory stems from the ability of the brain to
source perceptual information on the event from several unrelated sources and recognizes
them as one real event.
The proponents of this theory such as Linda Henkel argue that the occurrence of false
memory is more likely to manifest if the brain connects several sources of information on a
particular event and perceive all these sources as one (Linda Henkel, 2000). Hence, the
information that gets configured in the mind is believed to be an experience of the real event
when it is not. Such people usually support their false memories using evidence from a
variety of sources that convince them that what they believe in is true.
The implication of this research was that human beings sometimes imagine certain things and
believe that they have an experience with the same when it is not the case. Further, the
research indicates that an exposure to an object or event repeatedly through sight, sound or by
imaginations has a high degree of manipulating the memory of a person prompting him or her
to believe that he/she has had experience with something even when it is not real.

Implications on the nature of memory

This information on the formation of false memories can be used to understand and deduce
the nature of memory itself. Some people tend to depend upon external cues to recall false
memories implies that memory does not exist in a vacuum. In other words, little bits of
memory do not exist independently from each other. Sometimes one experience may be
affected by another. Those disruptions can be brought on by other memories that occurred
prior to the event under question or experiences that occurred after the said event.
Reception of misleading information can affect how people recall an event because it merges
with the old information in a way that can cause the real event to become supplanted, altered,
or extremely distorted. Studies on false memories provide great insights on the formation of
memory because they illustrate how new information can affect individuals without prior
detection. It is now possible to know why revised data can trick witnesses during court
testimonies.
Causes of False Memory
Inaccurate Perception of an ongoing event may lead to false memories. False memory
sometimes begins to manifest while the event is still in progress. A wrong perception of an
ongoing event due to an error in the encoding of the event leads to instant false memory.
When perceived wrong while still going on, it becomes difficult to remember the event later.
In addition, inferences that people make during the event is a probable cause of false
memory. For instance, while the event is in progress, people will tend to link the event with
their prior knowledge about the same event experienced earlier. In the end, the knowledge
that the person conceives about the new event is corrupted by the imaginations of the past
event. For example, while reading a story or listening to a story being told, people usually
relate what they read or hear to what they know about such an event. Later, the thought of the
story is different from the real story read or told.
Moreover, similarity between new events to one already in the memory leads to
misrepresentation of the new event. The memories and thoughts of the past event will over-
ride the new event making it be in a different configuration (Linda Henkel, 2000).
Misattributions of past familiar events also lead to false memory. An individual attributes
similar events to new experiences and create an imagination of an experience of the same
thing even when it is not true. For example, on mention of a name that sounds familiar, one
would be tempted to imagine that an individual who is named is the one they ha d some
experience with earlier. False memories are memories of events or situations that did not actually
happen. There are a number of ways in which false memories can be formed, including:

Misattribution: This occurs when someone attributes a memory to the wrong source, such as
remembering an event that they read about rather than an event that they experienced firsthand.

Suggestibility: This occurs when someone is influenced by others to remember things a certain
way, such as through leading questions or suggestions from others.

Confabulation: This occurs when someone fills in gaps in their memory with made-up details,
often without realizing that they are doing so.

Imagination: Someone may create a false memory through the act of imagination, such as by
vividly imagining a situation that never actually occurred.

Misinformation effect: This occurs when someone is exposed to incorrect information about
an event and later remembers the event in a way that is influenced by the misinformation.

False Memory effects human life

Individual differences
Greater creative imagination and dissociation are known to relate to false memory
[Link] imagination may lead to vivid details of imagined events. High
dissociation may be associated with habitual use of lax response criteria for source decisions
due to frequent interruption of attention or consciousness. Social desirability and false
memory have also been examined. Social desirability effects may depend on the level of
perceived social pressure.
Individuals who feel under greater social pressure may be more likely to acquiesce. Perceived
pressure from an authority figure may lower individuals' criteria for accepting a false event as
true. The new individual difference factors include preexisting beliefs about memory, self-
evaluation of one's own memory abilities, trauma symptoms, and attachment styles.
Regarding the first of these, metamemory beliefs about the malleability of memory, the
nature of trauma memory, and the recoverability of lost memory may influence willingness to
accept vague impressions or fragmentary images as recovered memories and thus, might
affect the likelihood of accepting false memory. For example, if someone believes that
memory once encoded is permanent, and that visualization is an effective way to recover
memories, the individual may endorse more liberal criteria for accepting a mental image as
true memory. Also, individuals who report themselves as having better everyday memories
may feel more compelled to come up with a memory when asked to do so. This may lead to
more liberal criteria, making these individuals more susceptible to false memory.

There is some research that shows individual differences in false memory susceptibility are
not always large (even on variables that have previously shown differences—such as creative
imagination or dissociation, that there appears to be no false memory trait, and that even
those who have highly superior memory are susceptible to false memories.

Trauma
A history of trauma is relevant to the issue of false memory. It has been proposed that people
with a trauma history or trauma symptoms may be particularly vulnerable to memory deficits,
including source-monitoring failures.

Possible associations between attachment styles and reports of false childhood memories
were also of interest. Adult attachment styles have been related to memories of early
childhood events, suggesting that the encoding or retrieval of such memories may activate the
attachment system. It is more difficult for avoidant adults to access negative emotional
experiences from childhood, whereas ambivalent adults access these kinds of experiences
easily.[49] Consistent with attachment theory, adults with avoidant attachment styles, like
their child counterparts, may attempt to suppress physiological and emotional reactions to
activation of the attachment system. Significant associations between parental attachment and
children's suggestibility exist. These data, however, do not directly address the issue of
whether adults' or their parents' attachment styles are related to false childhood memories.
Such data nevertheless suggest that greater attachment avoidance may be associated with a
stronger tendency to form false memories of childhood.

Sleep deprivation
Sleep deprivation can also affect the possibility of falsely encoding a memory. In two
experiments, participants studied DRM lists (lists of words [e.g., bed, rest, awake, tired] that
are semantically associated with a non-presented word) before a night of either sleep or sleep
deprivation; testing took place the following day. One study showed higher rates of false
recognition in sleep-deprived participants, compared with rested participants.

Sleep deprivation can increase the risk of developing false memories. Specifically, sleep
deprivation increased false memories in a misinformation task when participants in a study
were sleep deprived during event encoding, but did not have a significant effect when the
deprivation occurred after event encoding.

False memory syndrome

False memory syndrome is defined as false memory being a prevalent part of one's life in
which it affects the person's mentality and day-to-day life. False memory syndrome differs
from false memory in that the syndrome is heavily influential in the orientation of a person's
life, while false memory can occur without this significant effect. The syndrome takes effect
because the person believes the influential memory to be true. However, its research is
controversial and the syndrome is not included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders. False memory is an important part of psychological research because of
the ties it has to a large number of mental disorders, such as PTSD. False memory can be
declared a syndrome when recall of a false or inaccurate memory takes great effect on a
person's life. Such a false memory can completely alter the orientation of one's personality
and lifestyle.

False Memory effects Society

False memories have also been implicated in several serious cases, some fatal. In such
instances, false memories have had a dramatic and disturbing impact on people's lives in
society.
 False memories have led to lawsuits and financial judgments against therapy
providers when false repressed memories of traumatic events have been uncovered in
therapy.
 False memories have also led to false accusations and false convictions for various
crimes, including sexual abuse. Some defendants who have been convicted of crimes
based on false recollections have had their convictions overturned.
 False memories have been implicated in a number of hot car deaths in which parents
have mistakenly left children locked in cars, with deadly results.
People often read such stories and immediately think, "It could never happen to me. I have an
excellent memory." However, the evidence suggests otherwis

Solutions to come out this false memory trauma

There are several approaches that may be helpful in addressing false memories, depending on the
specific circumstances and the individual's needs. Here are a few options that may be worth
considering:
Therapy: Working with a mental health professional, such as a psychologist or counselor, can be
a helpful way to explore and address false memories. Therapy can provide a safe and supportive
space to process difficult experiences and emotions, and can also help individuals develop coping
skills and strategies for managing their experiences.

Supportive techniques: There are a number of techniques that may be helpful in managing
false memories and the distress they can cause. These can include relaxation techniques (such as
deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, or mindfulness meditation), journaling, and seeking
support from friends and loved ones.

Medication: In some cases, medication may be helpful in managing the distress associated with
false memories. Antidepressant or anti-anxiety medications may be prescribed to help individual’s
better cope with their experiences.

Education: Learning more about false memories and how they can occur can be a helpful way to
better understand and make sense of these experiences. This may involve reading about the topic,
talking with others who have had similar experiences, or participating in a support group.

It's important to keep in mind that addressing false memories can be a difficult and emotional
process, and that it may take time to find the approach that works best for you. It may be helpful to
speak with a mental health professional who can provide guidance and support as you navigate this
process

Conclusion
False memories usually occur due to suggestions offered by interviewers or psychologists if
the subject is undergoing therapy. Social demands of the interview process or the therapeutic
session can cause an individual to accept the false memory as true. Alternatively, mental
imageries given by the external party can also lead to this problem. Such processes illustrate
the possibility of the creation of false memories due to intentional coaching. Sometimes the
false memory can occur unintentionally due to implicit associative responses. Events that
occurred before or after the event can interfere with the actual experience under
consideration. False memories, therefore, have high chances of occurrence in the clinical
setting, and psychologists need to guard against coaching or to cause them during practice.
Although human memory errors have been a ripe area for research for decades, and
demonstrations of false memories for entire autobiographical events have been available in
the literature for almost 20 years, this is still a ripe area for research. New research is planting
new kinds of false memories, and exploring the details of who develops false memories and
how. Although many factors have been tested in attempts to differentiate between true and
false memories, no firm distinguishing characteristic has yet been established. Because of the
potential advantages of discriminating between true and false memories, further research is
called for.