I remember it but it didn't happen

Let's continue this journey through memories with a strange question. Did everything we remember really happen? Surely, when it comes to things we have studied, there may have been times when we said or thought, "Maybe it wasn't exactly like that." But when it comes to our personal experiences, can we be convinced that something happened to us that actually didn't? Yes, it's true!

Before examining this "strange" phenomenon, let me give you a brief definition. Two posts ago, I talked about implicit memory (memory of automated physical procedures) and explicit memory (memory of facts/events). Explicit memory can be divided into semantic memory, which represents the set of things we have studied, and autobiographical memory, which represents the set of things that have happened to us. Now, we will focus on autobiographical memory.

One of the examples reported in literature is the testimony of John Dean during the U.S. Watergate scandal. John Dean's account was highly detailed, but in reality, it contained many errors. The subject neither lied nor distorted the facts, yet not all the information reported actually occurred. This makes us think that perhaps John Dean had reasons to lie, and it's not easy to determine if someone has lied or not. Let's look at a different example.

Sometimes we have the sensation of remembering events that happened to us in a perfect manner (autobiographical memories), especially when these events are emotionally intense. These memories are described in great detail and are referred to as "flashbulb memories." Even in the case of the victims of the 9/11 attacks, when asked to recall their tragic experience, there were distortions compared to the actual facts. Still not convinced? Let's continue.

Experiment. Participants watch a video of a car accident. At the end of the video, they are asked to estimate the impact speed and whether they remember any broken glass. However, the question is posed differently: "What is the impact speed when the cars touched each other?", "... when the cars collided?", "... when the cars crashed into each other?", "... when the cars smashed into each other?" The results showed that the estimation of speed and the assessment of the presence of broken glass were influenced by the verb used in the question, which conveyed the perceived force of the impact.

So? The retrieval phase is a reconstructive process. Memory is not a perfect representation of the lived experience. Throughout our lives, we construct schemas that provide a sense of reality, an expectation of how things are supposed to be. Our knowledge and expectations influence retrieval by providing a memory that aligns with our beliefs. The missing parts (the ones we don't remember) are reconstructed based on our interpretation of the event.

To conclude, life memories (autobiographical memories) are influenced by our imaginative strategy (reconstructive process) and the way questions are posed (encoding specificity).

Have you ever told a story about something that happened to you, but someone told you, "Hey, it didn't happen exactly like that"?

If you want me to describe in my own words a topic of psychology, please request it in the comment section.

Sources: Neisser (1981) - John dean’s memory: A case study. Loftus & Palmer (1974) - Reconstruction of automobile destruction: An example of the

interaction between language and memory. Brown & Kulik (1977) - Flashbulb memories.