In: Psychology
What is false memory and how does it affect our memory?
A false memory can be defined as a psychological phenomenon when a person recalls an event that did not happen.A person may come to believe the traumatic details of a false memory which can affect them to function normally in their day to day life.Most of us hold false memories ranging from our own personal preferences and memories of events in our earlier lives.False memories are quite common and easily formed.Those with extremely good memories have are more susceptible to forming false memories .Our memory is vulnerable to misinformation and one cannot place much trust in memory.Our collection to past events can not only affect our future decisions but also our outcome.Memory is a faulty reconstruction of our mental experiences,which is influnced by our prior knowledge ,beleifs ,goals,mental state.Memory is not a recording of what happened but things change as we remember them.False memories can be created quite easily through suggestion but have a impact on behaviour as well.