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Ch a n ge Yo u r M e m o r y
Verander Uw Geheugen
Most of us realize that memory is fallible. We forget things all
the timecar keys, passwords, whether we turned off the
oven, etc. But how many of us would admit that our memory is
susceptible to change from the outside? Thats different
from simply forgettingsomething everyone does on their
ownbecause someone else changing our memory requires
getting in our heads so to speak, right?
If youve read this blog for any length of time, you know Im
about to tell you that not only is it possible, its probable.
And it doesnt even take very much effort to accomplishjust a few
images and a little time.
A recent study in the journalApplied Cognitive Psychology tested
whether showing people photos of completed
actionssuch as a broken pencil or an opened envelopecould
influence them to believe theyd done something they had
not, particularly if they were shown the photos multiple
times.
Participants were presented with a series of objects on a table,
and for each object were asked to either perform an
action or imagine performing an action (i.e. crack the walnut).
One week later, the same participants were brought
back and randomly presented with a series of photos on a
computer screen, each of a completed action (i.e. a crackedwalnut),
either one, two or three times. Other participants were not shown
any photos.
One week later, they were brought back to complete a memory test
in which they were presented with action phrases
(i.e. I cracked a walnut) and asked to answer whether they had
performed the action, imagined performing it, or
neither, and rate their confidence level for each answer on a
scale of one to four.
The results: the more times people were exposed to a photo of a
completed action, the more often they thought theyd
completed the action, even though they had really only imagined
doing it. Those shown a photo of a completed
action once were twice as likely to erroneously think theyd
completed the action than those not shown a photo at
all. People shown a photo three times were almost three times as
likely as those not shown a photo.
Two factors in this study speak to the malleability of memory.
The first is duration of time. The experiment was carried
out with a week between each session, enough time for the
specific objects and actions to become a little cloudy in
memory, but not enough time to be forgotten. This lines up well
with real-world situations, such as someone providing
eye-witness testimony, in which several days if not weeks might
elapse between recollections of events.
The second factor is repeat exposure to images. The study showed
that even just one exposure to a photo of a completed
action strongly influenced incorrect memory. Multiple exposures
significantly increased the errors. One real-world
takeaway from this result is potentially alarming: the
possibility of using images to alter someones memory of a face
or
other critical element such that his/her testimony is
tainted.
A similar study discussed here tackled the same sort of memory
issues with video instead of photos, and found a similar
result. Both studies point to a realization becoming clearer
with time: memory is far more changeable than most of us
realize.
VertalinginNL
Verander Uw Geheugen
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Asimilarstudydiscussedheretackledthesamesortofmemoryissueswithvideoinsteadofphotos,
andfoundasimilarresult.
Bothstudiespointtoarealizationbecomingclearerwithtime:memoryis
farmorechangeablethanmostofusrealize.
