Эффект ошибочной памяти

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Нельсон Мандела прославился благодаря тому, что боролся за права человека, против расовой сегрегации, 27 лет провел в тюрьме, а потом стал первым президентом ЮАР и умер в 2013 году. Вот только большое число людей узнало о последнем факте с удивлением. Они поклясться могли, что Мандела умер еще в тюрьме в 80-е. И даже вспоминают, что видели отрывки с его похорон по ТВ. Помехи в коллективном сознании из альтернативной вселенной? Cбой в матрице? Или же просто проблемы с памятью?

Например, еще в первом по хронологии киноэпизоде «Звездных войн» у позолоченного робота C-3PO была серебряная правая нога ниже колена. Но большинство зрителей (и даже некоторые фанаты) уверены, что он был полностью золотым.

— Я был большим фанатом «ЗВ» и в детстве смотрел их на VHS каждый день после школы, — рассказывает один из фанатов саги 70-х годов. — Думаю, я делал это около 7 месяцев — каждый день один и тот же фильм. Однажды я возвращаюсь домой, включаю фильм и… БАМ. Я просто пялюсь в замешательстве, как C-3PO полностью входит в кадр и у него серебряная нога. Это меня сразу же поражает. Назавтра я пошел в школу и рассказал своим друзьям. Они ответили, что это не так, я ошибаюсь. Но они вернулись домой, посмотрели фильм и на следующий день пришли в школу в таком же замешательстве, что и я.

Энтони Дэниелс, который в девяти фильмах перевоплощался в этого робота, говорил на мировой премьере «Пробуждения силы», что многие фанаты каким-то образом оставили эту деталь без внимания: «Даже фотограф до мозга костей Джон Джей однажды подошел ко мне на съемках и спросил: „Почему ты сегодня нацепил серебряную ногу?“ Он был фотографом и даже не заметил».

Как думаете, что приходит в голову фанатам, которые всю жизнь считают дроида золотым, а затем их понимание о столь важной вещи дает трещину? Появляются теории заговора: мол, это очень удачная интернет-мистификация, заговор съемочной группы, масонов, рептилоидов и т. д.

Конечно же, все намного проще. Просматривая «Звездные войны», зритель просто не концентрировал внимание на ногах C-3PO. Всматривался в его верхнюю половину, которая и отвечает за 95% его харизмы. А потому мозг благополучно полагал, что раз сверху дроид полностью золотой, то и в остальных местах он будет таким же. Да и в декорациях первого фильма «Новая надежда» на это можно было очень легко не обратить внимания из-за обилия песка. Серебряная нога срабатывала как зеркало и отражала не только соседнюю золотую, но и песок пустыни. Мозг просто достраивал картинку, которую разрушил особо внимательный зритель.

Чтобы сделать особенность дроида более приметной, Джей Джей Абрамс предложил в «Пробуждении силы» избавиться от серебряной ноги и использовать красную руку.

Создатели «Новой надежды» хотели наделить C-3PO какой-то особой харизмой, характером, историей, а потому решили заменить ему одну ногу на серебряную. Позже это объяснили тем, что дроид изначально был серебряным, а свое знаменитое покрытие получил где-то в промежутке между четвертым и третьим эпизодом саги по ее хронологии.

Но почему тогда у многих игрушек C-3PO присутствуют две золотые ноги? Все просто: одноцветную фигурку произвести дешевле, чем отдельно раскрашивать детской поделке одну из ног.

«Что дальше? Окажется, что у Чубакки не было усов? Или он курил сигару во всех эпизодах?» — истерично возмущаются под этим же видео зрители, которые помнят две золотые ноги у дроида.

Конечно, куда интереснее объяснять такие изменения в коллективной памяти тем, что какой-то путешественник во времени сломал нашу временную линию. Или ученые на Большом адронном коллайдере все-таки создали разрыв между параллельными мирами. Но правда, как часто бывает, куда более прозаична.

Эффект Манделы принято объяснять ложной памятью — эффектом в психологии, когда у человека развиваются ошибочные воспоминания о событиях или переживаниях, которые либо вовсе не происходили, либо подверглись искажению. Частный случай такой галлюцинации воспоминаний, расстройства памяти — конфабуляции. То, что имело место в реальности, со временем забывается, подвергается эрозии. А пробелы заполняются вымыслами.

— Мы думаем о наших воспоминаниях как о нашей личности, — цитирует Stuff профессора психологии Мэрианн Гарри из Университета Виктории. — Никто не любит сомневаться в том, кто он есть. Как правило, все воспоминания — это реконструкция. Так что все зависит от того, из чего они восстанавливаются, — правды, вымысла, микса.

Конечно, конфабуляции — это скорее из раздела психиатрии. Даже в Международном классификаторе болезней про это есть отдельная запись. Что как бы намекает на связь с психическими заболеваниями. Конфабуляции бывают разного содержания и выраженности: пациент может потеряться во времени и своем возрасте, наполнить свое прошлое фантастическими деталями и т. д. Но хорошая новость для нас заключается в том, что эффект Манделы с болезнями (скорее всего) никак не связан. А имеет место быть простая невнимательность, которая со временем в глобальных масштабах заполняется реконструированными ложными воспоминаниями, полученными в процессе нового опыта человека и социальной дезинформации. Это очень хорошо ложится на ситуацию с C-3PO. Ведь незамеченная серебряная нога осталась такой и благодаря обилию низкопробного мерча с ошибками.

Случаи конфабуляции у здоровых людей возникают чаще с возрастом. Как полагают исследователи, во многом из-за возрастных изменений в медиальной височной доле, включая гиппокамп, префронтальную кору головного мозга. Эти области важны в функционировании нашей памяти. А потому неудивительно, что многие из поколения тру-фанатов «Звездных войн» открывают для себя впервые столь неожиданную деталь про дроида.

Да и культовую фразу «Люк, я твой отец» Дарт Вейдер никогда не произносил. Если вы еще, конечно, этого не знали. Фразу обыгрывают во многих комиксах, мемах, пародиях. Но на самом деле Вейдер в диалоге с Люком произнес: «Нет, я твой отец».

Но в отрыве от контекста и Люка она куда менее понятная и интертекстуальная. Все могло начаться с фильма «Остин Пауэрс» (1999), где главный злодей произносит: «Остин, я твой отец».

А культовая фраза Жеглова «Ну и рожа у тебя, Шарапов» звучит как «Ну и рожа у тебя, Володя. Ох, рожа».

Эффект Манделы касается не только кинематографа. Иногда страдает и география.

— Прошлую ночь я провел на грани панической атаки, — пишет пользователь Reddit Bambooz_led. — Я хорошо образован. Я много путешествую, я жил во многих странах (в том числе и в Азии). У меня хорошая работа и солидный достаток среднего класса, и я горжусь тем, что являюсь эмоционально стабильным, последовательно рациональным. Но я только что понял, что не узнаю Австралию и Новую Зеландию. Совсем.

Этот бедняга с ужасом увидел, что Новая Зеландия на глобусе находится справа от Австралии, а не слева, как он всегда помнил это место. И он оказался не одинок. Плохое образование и прогулы уроков географии? Возможно, но не обязательно.

Большинство из ныне живущих вряд ли лично слышали знаковую новогоднюю речь президента России Бориса Ельцина в 1999 году. Но в памяти народа одна фраза из той речи отложилась как «Я устал, я ухожу». Хотя на самом деле звучала немного иначе: «Сегодня, в последний день уходящего века, я ухожу. Я сделал все, что мог».

Эффект Манделы является увлекательным примером тех причуд, которые могут происходить с памятью не только одного человека, но и целого сообщества. Иногда факты о нашем мозге оказываются интереснее выдумок об альтернативных вселенных.

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Путей распространения fakе facts — множество. Один из них получил название «эффект Манделы», суть которого заключается в следующем: масса людей начинает верить в событие, которого, на самом деле, не было, или же оно происходило, но совершенно иначе. Причины возникновения этого феномена до сих пор исследуются: есть как и психологические объяснения, так и мистические. Социальные сети только ускорили процесс распространения ложных фактов, а отсутствие способности критически воспринимать информацию усиливают этот эффект. Т&Р рассказывают о самых известных массовых заблуждениях в истории и объясняют, почему эффект Манделы возникает.

Что такое Эффект Манделы

Эффект Манделы заключается в совпадении воспоминаний у группы людей, противоречащих реальным фактам. Этот феномен стал известен в 2013 году, когда после смерти политического лидера ЮАР Нельсона Манделы массы людей начали утверждать, что он скончался в тюрьме в 80-ых годах 20 века, и некоторые даже помнят трансляцию его похорон по телевизору. На самом же деле политика освободили в 1990 году и он умер в 2013-ом. Тогда ввели термин «эффект Манделы», он до сих пор не имеет единого научного объяснения.

«Эффект Манделы» — это ошибочные воспоминания о событиях, которых не было, при этом люди ощущают сильные переживания и могут воспроизвести все детали

Бессознательное воспроизведение искаженных воспоминаний называется конфабуляцией — и это понятие не стоит путать с эффектом Манделы. Оно не обязательно связано с коллективными воспоминаниями и может возникнуть только у одного человека. «Как правило, все воспоминания реконструируются. Так что все зависит от того, из чего они созданы — правда, вымысел или смесь», — говорит профессор психологии Мэрианн Гарри из Университета Виктории.

Клинический психолог Джон Пол Гаррисон отмечал следующее: «Некоторые воспоминания возникают спонтанно, когда мы читаем новости. И нам может показаться, когда мы воспринимаем определенную информацию, что мы владели ею всегда». Это один из способов непроизвольного формирования fake news. Поэтому возникает необходимость проверять не только поступающую нам информацию, но и то, какую информацию распространяем мы.

Британский психолог, первый профессор экспериментальной психологии в университете Кембриджа Фредерик Бартлетт описал процесс забывания и подмены воспоминаний в своей книге «Воспоминания» 1932 года. Барлетт прочитал участникам канадскую народную сказку «Война призраков». Он обнаружил, что слушатели опускали незнакомые детали и искажали информацию, чтобы сделать ее более понятной. Этот процесс называется «усилие за смыслом» (effort after meaning). Иными словами, люди склонны домысливать и скрашивать истории.

Согласно одной из распространенных версий основной причиной Эффекта Манделы является склонность людей непроизвольно создавать fake facts. Людям свойственно передавать информацию в искаженном виде — преувеличивать, придумывать, приукрашивать для того, чтобы сделать свою историю эффектнее. Вскоре они забывают об этой лжи или начинают сами верить в нее. Здесь особое значение имеет сила самовнушения.

Это фантастическая теория, в которой существуют параллельные реальности, которые накладываются друг на друга. Так, события происходят в одно и то же время, из-за чего феномены искажаются. Когда эти реальности соприкасаются, происходит сбой.

Эффекту Манделы подвержены те, у кого не развито критическое мышление и кто не привык перепроверять информацию. Такими людьми гораздо легче манипулировать и создавать ложную картину мира.

В диджитал-среде эффект Манделы только усиливается. Неправильные представления с невероятной скоростью набирают обороты. Люди даже создают сообщества, основанные на fake facts. Например, симуляции автокатастрофы принцессы Дианы 1997 года часто ошибочно принимают за реальные кадры. Таким образом, большинство эффектов Манделы связано с ошибками памяти и социальной дезинформацией. Тот факт, что многие неточности являются тривиальными, предполагает, что они являются результатом избирательного внимания или ошибочного вывода.

Например, Синдбад действительно снимался в других фильмах в 1990-х годах и появился на постере фильма «Гость» (это было похоже на джинна, что могло бы объяснить ассоциацию с фильмом «Шазам»). Синдбад также нарядился джинном на мероприятие, которое он проводил в 1990-х годах. Когда один человек упомянул этот фильм «Шазам» (вероятно, в Интернете), это изменило воспоминания других людей, которые пытались вспомнить фильмы, которые Синдбад снял в 1990-х годах. Интернет-сообщества распространяли эту информацию, пока она не стала «правдой».

Это объяснение подтверждает, что повторное воспоминание чего-либо укрепляет вашу уверенность в памяти

По мере того, как все больше и больше людей сообщали неверные детали, они включались в воспоминания других людей как факты и укрепляли их уверенность в собственной правоте.

Распространение и потребление фейковой информации может навредить как личности, так и всему обществу. Поэтому возникает острая необходимость в развитии критического мышления — оно позволяет скептически относиться к потребляемой информации и формировать более четкую картину мира.

Ася Казанцева, автор бестселлера «В интернете кто-то неправ», Corpus, 2016

«Информации в мире жутко много, и с каждым годом ее не просто становится больше, но и сам ее объем начинает увеличиваться быстрее… На самом деле единственный навык, на который имеет смысл делать ставку в такой ситуации, — это умение пользоваться поисковыми системами, находить нужную информацию и отличать авторитетные источники от низкокачественных. Чем меньше развит навык перепроверять информацию и разбираться, тем в большей степени человек склонен принимать на веру те концепции, которые ему случайно где-то попались, чем активно пользуются шарлатаны всех мастей».

In psychology, a false memory is a phenomenon where someone recalls something that did not happen or recalls it differently from the way it actually happened. Suggestibility, activation of associated information, the incorporation of misinformation, and source misattribution have been suggested to be several mechanisms underlying a variety of types of false memory.

Early work[edit]

The false memory phenomenon was initially investigated by psychological pioneers Pierre Janet and Sigmund Freud.^[1]

Freud was fascinated with memory and all the ways it could be understood, used, and manipulated. Some claim that his studies have been quite influential in contemporary memory research, including the research into the field of false memory.^[2] Pierre Janet was a French neurologist also credited with great contributions into memory research. Janet contributed to false memory through his ideas on dissociation and memory retrieval through hypnosis.^[3]

In 1974, Elizabeth Loftus and John Palmer conducted a study^[4] to investigate the effects of language on the development of false memory. The experiment involved two separate studies.

In the first study, 45 participants were randomly assigned to watch different videos of a car accident, in which separate videos had shown collisions at 20 mph (32 km/h), 30 mph (48 km/h) and 40 mph (64 km/h). Afterwards, participants filled out a survey. The survey asked the question, «About how fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?» The question always asked the same thing, except the verb used to describe the collision varied. Rather than «smashed», other verbs used included «bumped», «collided», «hit», or «contacted». Participants estimated collisions of all speeds to average between 35 mph (56 km/h) to just below 40 mph (64 km/h). If actual speed was the main factor in estimate, it could be assumed that participants would have lower estimates for lower speed collisions. Instead, the word being used to describe the collision seemed to better predict the estimate in speed rather than the speed itself.^[4]

The second experiment also showed participants videos of a car accident, but the phrasing of the follow-up questionnaire was critical in participant responses. 150 participants were randomly assigned to three conditions. Those in the first condition were asked the same question as the first study using the verb «smashed». The second group was asked the same question as the first study, replacing «smashed» with «hit». The final group was not asked about the speed of the crashed cars. The researchers then asked the participants if they had seen any broken glass, knowing that there was no broken glass in the video. The responses to this question had shown that the difference between whether broken glass was recalled or not heavily depended on the verb used. A larger sum of participants in the «smashed» group declared that there was broken glass.

In this study, the first point brought up in discussion is that the words used to phrase a question can heavily influence the response given.^[4] Second, the study indicates that the phrasing of a question can give expectations to previously ignored details, and therefore, a misconstruction of our memory recall. This indication supports false memory as an existing phenomenon.

Replications in different contexts (such as hockey games instead of car crashes) have shown that different scenarios require different framing effects to produce differing memories.^[5]

Manifestations and types[edit]

Presuppositions and the misinformation effect[edit]

A presupposition is an implication through chosen language. If a person is asked, «What shade of blue was the wallet?», the questioner is, in translation, saying, «The wallet was blue. What shade was it?» The question’s phrasing provides the respondent with a supposed «fact». This presupposition creates one of two separate effects: true effect and false effect.

• In true effect, the implication was accurate: the wallet really was blue. That makes the respondent’s recall stronger, more readily available, and easier to extrapolate from. A respondent is more likely to remember a wallet as blue if the prompt said that it was blue, than if the prompt did not say so.
• In false effect, the implication was actually false: the wallet was not blue even though the question asked what shade of blue it was. This convinces the respondent of its truth (i.e., that the wallet was blue), which affects their memory. It can also alter responses to later questions to keep them consistent with the false implication.

Regardless of the effect being true or false, the respondent is attempting to conform to the supplied information, because they assume it to be true.^[6]

Loftus’ meta-analysis on language manipulation studies suggested the misinformation effect taking hold on the recall process and products of the human memory. Even the smallest adjustment in a question, such as the article preceding the supposed memory, could alter the responses. For example, having asked someone if they had seen «the» stop sign, rather than «a» stop sign, provided the respondent with a presupposition that there was a stop sign in the scene. This presupposition increased the number of people responding that they had indeed seen the stop sign.^[7]

The strength of verbs used in conversation or questioning also has a similar effect on the memory; for example – the words met, bumped, collided, crashed, or smashed would all cause people to remember a car accident at different levels of intensity. The words bumped, hit, grabbed, smacked, or groped would all paint a different picture of a person in the memory of an observer of sexual harassment if questioned about it later. The stronger the word, the more intense the recreation of the experience in the memory is. This in turn could trigger further false memories to better fit the memory created (change how a person looks or how fast a vehicle was moving before an accident).^[8]

Word lists[edit]

One can trigger false memories by presenting subjects a continuous list of words. When subjects were presented with a second version of the list and asked if the words had appeared on the previous list, they found that the subjects did not recognize the list correctly. When the words on the two lists were semantically related to each other (e.g. sleep/bed), it was more likely that the subjects did not remember the first list correctly and created false memories (Anisfeld & Knapp, 1963).^[9]

In 1998 Kathleen McDermott and Henry Roediger III conducted a similar experiment. Their goal was to intentionally trigger false memories through word lists. They presented subjects with lists to study all containing a large number of words that were semantically related to another word that was not found on the list. For example, if the word that they were trying to trigger was “river” the list would contain words such as flow, current, water, stream, bend, etc. They would then take the lists away and ask the subjects to recall the words on the lists. Almost every time the false memory was triggered and the subjects would end up recalling the target word as part of the list when it was never there. McDermott and Roediger even went as far as informing the subjects of the purpose and details of the experiment, and still the subjects would recall the non listed target word as part of the word list they had studied.^[10]

Staged naturalistic events[edit]

Subjects were invited into an office and were told to wait there. After this they had to recall the inventory of the visited office. Subjects recognized objects consistent with the “office schema” although they did not appear in the office. (Brewer & Treyens, 1981)^[9]

In another study, subjects were presented with a situation where they witnessed a staged robbery. Half of the subjects witnessed the robbery live while the other half watched a video of the robbery as it took place. After the event, they were sat down and asked to recall what had happened during the robbery. The results surprisingly showed that those who watched the video of the robbery actually recalled more information more accurately than those who were live on the scene. Still false memory presented itself in ways such as subjects seeing things that would fit in a crime scene that were not there, or not recalling things that did not fit the crime scene. This happened with both parties, displaying the idea of staged naturalistic events.^[11]

Relational processing[edit]

Memory retrieval has been associated with the brain’s relational processing. In associating two events (in reference to false memory, say tying a testimony to a prior event), there are verbatim and gist representations. Verbatim matches to the individual occurrences (e.g., I do not like dogs because when I was five a chihuahua bit me) and gist matches to general inferences (e.g., I do not like dogs because they are mean). Keeping in line with the fuzzy-trace theory, which suggests false memories are stored in gist representations (which retrieves both true and false recall), Storbeck & Clore (2005) wanted to see how change in mood affected the retrieval of false memories. After using the measure of a word association tool called the Deese–Roediger–McDermott paradigm (DRM), the subjects’ moods were manipulated. Moods were either oriented towards being more positive, more negative, or were left untouched. Findings suggested that a more negative mood made critical details, stored in gist representation, more accessible.^[12]

Mandela effect[edit]

False memories can sometimes be shared by multiple people. This phenomenon was dubbed the «Mandela effect» by paranormal researcher Fiona Broome, who reported having vivid and detailed memories of news coverage of South African anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela dying in prison in the 1980s, despite Mandela actually dying in 2013 after serving as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. Broome reported that, since 2010, «perhaps thousands» of other people had written online about having the same memory of Mandela’s death and she speculated that the phenomenon could be evidence of parallel realities.^[13][14]

One well-documented example of shared false memories comes from a 2010 study that examined people familiar with the clock at Bologna Centrale railway station, which was damaged in the Bologna massacre bombing in August 1980. In the study, 92% of respondents falsely remembered the clock had remained stopped since the bombing when, in fact, the clock was repaired shortly after the attack. Years later the clock was again stopped and set to the time of the bombing, in observance and commemoration of the bombing.^[15]

Other examples include memories of the title of the Berenstain Bears children’s books being spelled «Berenstein»,^[16][17] the logo of clothing brand Fruit of the Loom featuring a cornucopia,^[18] Darth Vader telling Luke Skywalker, «Luke, I am your father» in the climax of The Empire Strikes Back (he actually says, «No, I am your father» in response to Skywalker’s assertion that Vader had killed his father),^[19] Mr. Monopoly wearing a monocle,^[20][21][22] and the existence of a 1990s movie titled Shazaam starring comedian Sinbad as a genie^[23] (which Snopes suggests could be a confabulation of real memories, possibly including Sinbad wearing a genie-like costume during a TV marathon of Sinbad the Sailor movies in 1994,^[24][25] the 1996 film Kazaam featuring a genie played by basketball star Shaquille O’Neal, and the 1960s animated genie-themed series Shazzan).^[23][26][27] Likewise, false memories of Mandela’s death could be explained as the subject confabulating him with Steve Biko, another prominent South African anti-apartheid activist who died in prison in 1977.^[28][29][30]

Scientists suggest that these are examples of false memories shaped by similar cognitive factors affecting multiple people and families,^{[17][31][32][33][34]} such as social and cognitive reinforcement of incorrect memories^[35][36] or false news reports and misleading photographs that influence the formation of memories based on them.^{[26][37][36][38]}

Theories[edit]

Strength hypothesis[edit]

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.^[39]

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[edit]

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.^[40]

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.^[40]

Skeleton theory[edit]

Loftus developed what some refer to as «the skeleton theory» after having run an experiment involving 150 subjects from the University of Washington.^[40] 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.^[40]

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.^[40]

Natural factors for the formation of false memories[edit]

Individual differences[edit]

Greater creative imagination and dissociation are known to relate to false memory formation.^[41] Creative 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.^[42] Social desirability effects may depend on the level of perceived social pressure.^[41]

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.^[43] 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^[44]), that there appears to be no false memory trait,^[45][46] and that even those who have highly superior memory are susceptible to false memories.^[47]

Trauma[edit]

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.^[48]

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[edit]

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.^[50]

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.^[51]

False memory syndrome[edit]

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.^[52] 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.^[53] 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.^[1][54]

Psychiatry[edit]

Therapists who subscribe to recovered memory theory point to a wide variety of common problems, ranging from eating disorders to sleeplessness, as evidence of repressed memories of sexual abuse.^[55] Psychotherapists tried to reveal “repressed memories” in mental therapy patients through “hypnosis, guided imagery, dream interpretation and narco-analysis”. The reasoning was that if abuse couldn’t be remembered, then it needed to be recovered by the therapist. The legal phenomena developed in the 1980s, with civil suits alleging child sexual abuse on the basis of “memories” recovered during psychotherapy. The term “repressed memory therapy” gained momentum and with it social stigma surrounded those accused of abuse. The “therapy” led to other psychological disorders in persons whose memories were recovered.^{[medical citation needed]}

Memories recovered through therapy have become more difficult to distinguish between simply being repressed or having existed in the first place.^{[citation needed]}

Therapists have used strategies such as hypnotherapy, repeated questioning, and bibliotherapy. These strategies may provoke the recovery of nonexistent events or inaccurate memories.^[56][57][58] A recent report indicates that similar strategies may have produced false memories in several therapies in the century before the modern controversy on the topic which took place in the 1980s and 1990s.^[59]

According to Loftus, there are different possibilities to create false therapy-induced memory. One is the unintentional suggestions of therapists. For example, a therapist might tell their client that, on the basis of their symptoms, it is quite likely that they had been abused as a child. Once this «diagnosis» is made, the therapist sometimes urges the patient to pursue the recalcitrant memories. It is a problem resulting from the fact that people create their own social reality with external information.^[60]

The «lost-in-the-mall» technique is another recovery strategy.^{[clarification needed]} This is essentially a repeated suggestion pattern. The person whose memory is to be recovered is persistently said to have gone through an experience even if it may have not happened. This strategy can cause the person to recall the event as having occurred, despite its falsehood.^[61]

Hypnosis[edit]

Laurence and Perry conducted a study testing the ability to induce memory recall through hypnosis. Subjects were put into a hypnotic state and later woken up. Observers suggested that the subjects were woken up by a loud noise. Nearly half of the subjects being tested concluded that this was true, despite it being false. However, by therapeutically altering the subject’s state, they may have been led to believe that what they were being told was true.^[62] Because of this, the respondent has a false recall.

A 1989 study focusing on hypnotizability and false memory separated accurate and inaccurate memories recalled. In open-ended question formation, 11.5% of subjects recalled the false event suggested by observers. In a multiple-choice format, no participants claimed the false event had happened. This result led to the conclusion that hypnotic suggestions produce shifts in focus, awareness, and attention. Despite this, subjects do not mix fantasy up with reality.^[1]

Effects on society[edit]

Legal cases[edit]

Therapy-induced memory recovery has made frequent appearances in legal cases, particularly those regarding sexual abuse.^[63] Therapists can often aid in creating a false memory in a victim’s mind, intentionally or unintentionally. They will associate a patient’s behavior with the fact that they have been a victim of sexual abuse, thus helping the memory occur. They use memory enhancement techniques such as hypnosis dream analysis to extract memories of sexual abuse from victims. In Ramona v. Isabella, two therapists wrongly prompted a recall that their patient, Holly Ramona, had been sexually abused by her father. It was suggested that the therapist, Isabella, had implanted one of the sexual abuse memories in Ramona after use of the hypnotic drug sodium amytal. After a nearly unanimous decision, Isabella had been declared negligent towards Holly Ramona. This 1994 legal issue played a massive role in shedding light on the possibility of false memories’ occurrences. ^[64]

In another legal case where false memories were used, they helped a man to be acquitted of his charges. Joseph Pacely had been accused of breaking into a woman’s home with the intent to sexually assault her. The woman had given her description of the assailant to police shortly after the crime had happened. During the trial, memory researcher Elizabeth Loftus testified that memory is fallible and there were many emotions that played a part in the woman’s description given to police. Loftus has published many studies consistent with her testimony.^[40][65][66] These studies suggest that memories can easily be changed around and sometimes eyewitness testimonies are not as reliable as many believe.

Another notable case is Maxine Berry. Maxine grew up in the custody of her mother, who opposed the father having contact with her (Berry & Berry, 2001). When the father expressed his desire to attend his daughter’s high school graduation, the mother enrolled Maxine in therapy, ostensibly to deal with the stress of seeing her father. The therapist pressed Maxine to recover memories of sex abuse by her father. Maxine broke down under the pressure and had to be psychiatrically hospitalized. She underwent tubal ligation, so she would not have children and repeat the cycle of abuse. With the support of her husband and primary care physician, Maxine eventually realized that her memories were false and filed a suit for malpractice. The suit brought to light the mother’s manipulation of mental health professionals to convince Maxine that she had been sexually abused by her father. In February 1997 Maxine Berry sued her therapists^[67] and clinic that treated her from 1992 to 1995 and, she says, made her falsely believe she had been sexually and physically abused as a child when no such abuse ever occurred. The lawsuit, filed in February 1997 in Minnehaha Co. Circuit Court South Dakota, states that therapist Lynda O’Connor-Davis had an improper relationship with Berry, both during and after her treatment. The suit also names psychologist Vail Williams, psychiatrist Dr. William Fuller and Charter Hospital and Charter Counseling Center as defendants. Berry and her husband settled out of court^[68]

Although there have been many legal cases in which false memory appears to have been a factor, this does not ease the process of distinguishing between false memory and real recall. Sound therapeutic strategy can help this differentiation, by either avoiding known controversial strategies or to disclosing controversy to a subject.^[56][1][69]

Harold Merskey published a paper on the ethical issues of recovered-memory therapy.^[69] He suggests that if a patient had pre-existing severe issues in their life, it is likely that «deterioration» will occur to a relatively severe extent upon memory recall. This deterioration is a physical parallel to the emotional trauma being surfaced. There may be tears, writhing, or many other forms of physical disturbance. The occurrence of physical deterioration in memory recall coming from a patient with relatively minor issues prior to therapy could be an indication of the recalled memory’s potential falsehood.^[69]

Children[edit]

False memory is often considered for trauma victims^[70] including those of childhood sexual abuse.^{[71][72][56][73]}

If a child experienced abuse, it is not typical for them to disclose the details of the event when confronted in an open-ended manner.^[74] Trying to indirectly prompt a memory recall can lead to the conflict of source attribution, as if repeatedly questioned the child might try to recall a memory to satisfy a question. The stress being put on the child can make recovering an accurate memory more difficult.^[71] Some people hypothesize that as the child continuously attempts to remember a memory, they are building a larger file of sources that the memory could be derived from, potentially including sources other than genuine memories. Children that have never been abused but undergo similar response-eliciting techniques can disclose events that never occurred.^[74]

One of children’s most notable setbacks in memory recall is source misattribution. Source misattribution is the flaw in deciphering between potential origins of a memory. The source could come from an actual occurring perception, or it can come from an induced and imagined event. Younger children, preschoolers in particular, find it more difficult to discriminate between the two.^[75] Lindsay & Johnson (1987) concluded that even children approaching adolescence struggle with this, as well as recalling an existent memory as a witness. Children are significantly more likely to confuse a source between being invented or existent.^[76]

Shyamalan, Lamb and Sheldrick (1995) partially re-created a study that involved attempted memory implanting in children. The study comprised a series of interviews concerning a medical procedure that the children may have undergone. The data was scored so that if a child made one false affirmation during the interview, the child was classified as inaccurate. When the medical procedure was described in detail, «only 13% of the children answered ‘yes’ to the question ‘Did you ever have this procedure?'». As to the success of implantation with false ‘memories’, the children «assented to the question for a variety of reasons, a false memory being only one of them. In sum, it is possible that no false memories have been created in children in implanted-memory studies».^[77]

Ethics and public opinion[edit]

A 2016 study surveyed the public’s attitude regarding the ethics of planting false memories as an attempt to influence healthy behavior. People were most concerned with the consequences, with 37% saying it was overly manipulative, potentially harmful or traumatic. Their reasons against are that the ends do not justify the means (32%), potential for abuse (14%), lack of consent (10%), practical doubts (8%), better alternative (7%), and free will (3%). Of those who thought implanting false memories would be acceptable, 36% believed the end justified the means, with other reasons being increasing treatment options (6%), people need support (6%), no harm would be done (6%), and it’s no worse than alternatives (5%).^[78]

Potential benefits[edit]

Several possible benefits associated with false memory arrive from fuzzy-trace theory and gist memory. Valerie F. Reyna, who coined the terms as an explanation for the DRM paradigm, explains that her findings indicate that reliance on prior knowledge from gist memory can help individuals make safer, well informed choices in terms of risk taking.^[79] Other positive traits associated with false memory indicate that individuals have superior organizational processes, heightened creativity, and prime solutions for insight based problems. All of these things indicate that false memories are adaptive and functional.^[80] False memories tied to familiar concepts can also potentially aid in future problem solving in a related topic, especially when related to survival.^[81]

See also[edit]

• Source-monitoring error, an effect in which memories are incorrectly attributed to different experiences than the ones that caused them.
• Déjà vu, the feeling that one has lived through the present situation before.
• Jamais vu, the feeling of unfamiliarity with recognised memories.
• Cryptomnesia, a memory that is not recognised as such.
• Lost in the mall technique, a memory implantation technique used to demonstrate that false memories can be implanted through suggestions made to experimental subjects in which the subject is told that an older relative was present at the time.
• Memory conformity
• Inception, a science fiction film dealing with the concept of implanting ideas in sleeping individuals.
• Recursion, a science fiction novel by Blake Crouch which includes topics of false memory.

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• Bjorklund, D. F. (2014). False-memory Creation in Children and Adults: Theory, Research, and Implications. Psychology Press. ISBN 9781138003224
• Conway, M. A. (1997). Recovered Memories and False Memories. Oxford University Press.
• French, C (2003). «Fantastic Memories: The Relevance of Research into Eyewitness Testimony and False Memories for Reports of Anomalous Experiences» (PDF). Journal of Consciousness Studies. 10: 153–174. ISSN 1355-8250. Archived from the original on 13 March 2013.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
• Roediger, Henry L.; Marsh, Elizabeth J. (2009). «False memory». Scholarpedia. 4 (8): 3858. Bibcode:2009SchpJ…4.3858I. doi:10.4249/scholarpedia.3858.
• Schacter, D. L; Curran, T. (1995). «The Cognitive Neuroscience of False Memories». Psychiatric Annals. 25 (12): 727–731. doi:10.3928/0048-5713-19951201-08.

In psychology, a false memory is a phenomenon where someone recalls something that did not happen or recalls it differently from the way it actually happened. Suggestibility, activation of associated information, the incorporation of misinformation, and source misattribution have been suggested to be several mechanisms underlying a variety of types of false memory.

Early work[edit]

The false memory phenomenon was initially investigated by psychological pioneers Pierre Janet and Sigmund Freud.^[1]

Freud was fascinated with memory and all the ways it could be understood, used, and manipulated. Some claim that his studies have been quite influential in contemporary memory research, including the research into the field of false memory.^[2] Pierre Janet was a French neurologist also credited with great contributions into memory research. Janet contributed to false memory through his ideas on dissociation and memory retrieval through hypnosis.^[3]

In 1974, Elizabeth Loftus and John Palmer conducted a study^[4] to investigate the effects of language on the development of false memory. The experiment involved two separate studies.

In the first study, 45 participants were randomly assigned to watch different videos of a car accident, in which separate videos had shown collisions at 20 mph (32 km/h), 30 mph (48 km/h) and 40 mph (64 km/h). Afterwards, participants filled out a survey. The survey asked the question, «About how fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?» The question always asked the same thing, except the verb used to describe the collision varied. Rather than «smashed», other verbs used included «bumped», «collided», «hit», or «contacted». Participants estimated collisions of all speeds to average between 35 mph (56 km/h) to just below 40 mph (64 km/h). If actual speed was the main factor in estimate, it could be assumed that participants would have lower estimates for lower speed collisions. Instead, the word being used to describe the collision seemed to better predict the estimate in speed rather than the speed itself.^[4]

The second experiment also showed participants videos of a car accident, but the phrasing of the follow-up questionnaire was critical in participant responses. 150 participants were randomly assigned to three conditions. Those in the first condition were asked the same question as the first study using the verb «smashed». The second group was asked the same question as the first study, replacing «smashed» with «hit». The final group was not asked about the speed of the crashed cars. The researchers then asked the participants if they had seen any broken glass, knowing that there was no broken glass in the video. The responses to this question had shown that the difference between whether broken glass was recalled or not heavily depended on the verb used. A larger sum of participants in the «smashed» group declared that there was broken glass.

In this study, the first point brought up in discussion is that the words used to phrase a question can heavily influence the response given.^[4] Second, the study indicates that the phrasing of a question can give expectations to previously ignored details, and therefore, a misconstruction of our memory recall. This indication supports false memory as an existing phenomenon.

Replications in different contexts (such as hockey games instead of car crashes) have shown that different scenarios require different framing effects to produce differing memories.^[5]

Manifestations and types[edit]

Presuppositions and the misinformation effect[edit]

A presupposition is an implication through chosen language. If a person is asked, «What shade of blue was the wallet?», the questioner is, in translation, saying, «The wallet was blue. What shade was it?» The question’s phrasing provides the respondent with a supposed «fact». This presupposition creates one of two separate effects: true effect and false effect.

• In true effect, the implication was accurate: the wallet really was blue. That makes the respondent’s recall stronger, more readily available, and easier to extrapolate from. A respondent is more likely to remember a wallet as blue if the prompt said that it was blue, than if the prompt did not say so.
• In false effect, the implication was actually false: the wallet was not blue even though the question asked what shade of blue it was. This convinces the respondent of its truth (i.e., that the wallet was blue), which affects their memory. It can also alter responses to later questions to keep them consistent with the false implication.

Regardless of the effect being true or false, the respondent is attempting to conform to the supplied information, because they assume it to be true.^[6]

Loftus’ meta-analysis on language manipulation studies suggested the misinformation effect taking hold on the recall process and products of the human memory. Even the smallest adjustment in a question, such as the article preceding the supposed memory, could alter the responses. For example, having asked someone if they had seen «the» stop sign, rather than «a» stop sign, provided the respondent with a presupposition that there was a stop sign in the scene. This presupposition increased the number of people responding that they had indeed seen the stop sign.^[7]

The strength of verbs used in conversation or questioning also has a similar effect on the memory; for example – the words met, bumped, collided, crashed, or smashed would all cause people to remember a car accident at different levels of intensity. The words bumped, hit, grabbed, smacked, or groped would all paint a different picture of a person in the memory of an observer of sexual harassment if questioned about it later. The stronger the word, the more intense the recreation of the experience in the memory is. This in turn could trigger further false memories to better fit the memory created (change how a person looks or how fast a vehicle was moving before an accident).^[8]

Word lists[edit]

One can trigger false memories by presenting subjects a continuous list of words. When subjects were presented with a second version of the list and asked if the words had appeared on the previous list, they found that the subjects did not recognize the list correctly. When the words on the two lists were semantically related to each other (e.g. sleep/bed), it was more likely that the subjects did not remember the first list correctly and created false memories (Anisfeld & Knapp, 1963).^[9]

In 1998 Kathleen McDermott and Henry Roediger III conducted a similar experiment. Their goal was to intentionally trigger false memories through word lists. They presented subjects with lists to study all containing a large number of words that were semantically related to another word that was not found on the list. For example, if the word that they were trying to trigger was “river” the list would contain words such as flow, current, water, stream, bend, etc. They would then take the lists away and ask the subjects to recall the words on the lists. Almost every time the false memory was triggered and the subjects would end up recalling the target word as part of the list when it was never there. McDermott and Roediger even went as far as informing the subjects of the purpose and details of the experiment, and still the subjects would recall the non listed target word as part of the word list they had studied.^[10]

Staged naturalistic events[edit]

Subjects were invited into an office and were told to wait there. After this they had to recall the inventory of the visited office. Subjects recognized objects consistent with the “office schema” although they did not appear in the office. (Brewer & Treyens, 1981)^[9]

In another study, subjects were presented with a situation where they witnessed a staged robbery. Half of the subjects witnessed the robbery live while the other half watched a video of the robbery as it took place. After the event, they were sat down and asked to recall what had happened during the robbery. The results surprisingly showed that those who watched the video of the robbery actually recalled more information more accurately than those who were live on the scene. Still false memory presented itself in ways such as subjects seeing things that would fit in a crime scene that were not there, or not recalling things that did not fit the crime scene. This happened with both parties, displaying the idea of staged naturalistic events.^[11]

Relational processing[edit]

Memory retrieval has been associated with the brain’s relational processing. In associating two events (in reference to false memory, say tying a testimony to a prior event), there are verbatim and gist representations. Verbatim matches to the individual occurrences (e.g., I do not like dogs because when I was five a chihuahua bit me) and gist matches to general inferences (e.g., I do not like dogs because they are mean). Keeping in line with the fuzzy-trace theory, which suggests false memories are stored in gist representations (which retrieves both true and false recall), Storbeck & Clore (2005) wanted to see how change in mood affected the retrieval of false memories. After using the measure of a word association tool called the Deese–Roediger–McDermott paradigm (DRM), the subjects’ moods were manipulated. Moods were either oriented towards being more positive, more negative, or were left untouched. Findings suggested that a more negative mood made critical details, stored in gist representation, more accessible.^[12]

Mandela effect[edit]

False memories can sometimes be shared by multiple people. This phenomenon was dubbed the «Mandela effect» by paranormal researcher Fiona Broome, who reported having vivid and detailed memories of news coverage of South African anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela dying in prison in the 1980s, despite Mandela actually dying in 2013 after serving as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. Broome reported that, since 2010, «perhaps thousands» of other people had written online about having the same memory of Mandela’s death and she speculated that the phenomenon could be evidence of parallel realities.^[13][14]

One well-documented example of shared false memories comes from a 2010 study that examined people familiar with the clock at Bologna Centrale railway station, which was damaged in the Bologna massacre bombing in August 1980. In the study, 92% of respondents falsely remembered the clock had remained stopped since the bombing when, in fact, the clock was repaired shortly after the attack. Years later the clock was again stopped and set to the time of the bombing, in observance and commemoration of the bombing.^[15]

Other examples include memories of the title of the Berenstain Bears children’s books being spelled «Berenstein»,^[16][17] the logo of clothing brand Fruit of the Loom featuring a cornucopia,^[18] Darth Vader telling Luke Skywalker, «Luke, I am your father» in the climax of The Empire Strikes Back (he actually says, «No, I am your father» in response to Skywalker’s assertion that Vader had killed his father),^[19] Mr. Monopoly wearing a monocle,^[20][21][22] and the existence of a 1990s movie titled Shazaam starring comedian Sinbad as a genie^[23] (which Snopes suggests could be a confabulation of real memories, possibly including Sinbad wearing a genie-like costume during a TV marathon of Sinbad the Sailor movies in 1994,^[24][25] the 1996 film Kazaam featuring a genie played by basketball star Shaquille O’Neal, and the 1960s animated genie-themed series Shazzan).^[23][26][27] Likewise, false memories of Mandela’s death could be explained as the subject confabulating him with Steve Biko, another prominent South African anti-apartheid activist who died in prison in 1977.^[28][29][30]

Scientists suggest that these are examples of false memories shaped by similar cognitive factors affecting multiple people and families,^{[17][31][32][33][34]} such as social and cognitive reinforcement of incorrect memories^[35][36] or false news reports and misleading photographs that influence the formation of memories based on them.^{[26][37][36][38]}

Theories[edit]

Strength hypothesis[edit]

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.^[39]

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[edit]

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.^[40]

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.^[40]

Skeleton theory[edit]

Loftus developed what some refer to as «the skeleton theory» after having run an experiment involving 150 subjects from the University of Washington.^[40] 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.^[40]

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.^[40]

Natural factors for the formation of false memories[edit]

Individual differences[edit]

Greater creative imagination and dissociation are known to relate to false memory formation.^[41] Creative 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.^[42] Social desirability effects may depend on the level of perceived social pressure.^[41]

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.^[43] 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^[44]), that there appears to be no false memory trait,^[45][46] and that even those who have highly superior memory are susceptible to false memories.^[47]

Trauma[edit]

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.^[48]

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[edit]

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.^[50]

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.^[51]

False memory syndrome[edit]

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.^[52] 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.^[53] 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.^[1][54]

Psychiatry[edit]

Therapists who subscribe to recovered memory theory point to a wide variety of common problems, ranging from eating disorders to sleeplessness, as evidence of repressed memories of sexual abuse.^[55] Psychotherapists tried to reveal “repressed memories” in mental therapy patients through “hypnosis, guided imagery, dream interpretation and narco-analysis”. The reasoning was that if abuse couldn’t be remembered, then it needed to be recovered by the therapist. The legal phenomena developed in the 1980s, with civil suits alleging child sexual abuse on the basis of “memories” recovered during psychotherapy. The term “repressed memory therapy” gained momentum and with it social stigma surrounded those accused of abuse. The “therapy” led to other psychological disorders in persons whose memories were recovered.^{[medical citation needed]}

Memories recovered through therapy have become more difficult to distinguish between simply being repressed or having existed in the first place.^{[citation needed]}

Therapists have used strategies such as hypnotherapy, repeated questioning, and bibliotherapy. These strategies may provoke the recovery of nonexistent events or inaccurate memories.^[56][57][58] A recent report indicates that similar strategies may have produced false memories in several therapies in the century before the modern controversy on the topic which took place in the 1980s and 1990s.^[59]

According to Loftus, there are different possibilities to create false therapy-induced memory. One is the unintentional suggestions of therapists. For example, a therapist might tell their client that, on the basis of their symptoms, it is quite likely that they had been abused as a child. Once this «diagnosis» is made, the therapist sometimes urges the patient to pursue the recalcitrant memories. It is a problem resulting from the fact that people create their own social reality with external information.^[60]

The «lost-in-the-mall» technique is another recovery strategy.^{[clarification needed]} This is essentially a repeated suggestion pattern. The person whose memory is to be recovered is persistently said to have gone through an experience even if it may have not happened. This strategy can cause the person to recall the event as having occurred, despite its falsehood.^[61]

Hypnosis[edit]

Laurence and Perry conducted a study testing the ability to induce memory recall through hypnosis. Subjects were put into a hypnotic state and later woken up. Observers suggested that the subjects were woken up by a loud noise. Nearly half of the subjects being tested concluded that this was true, despite it being false. However, by therapeutically altering the subject’s state, they may have been led to believe that what they were being told was true.^[62] Because of this, the respondent has a false recall.

A 1989 study focusing on hypnotizability and false memory separated accurate and inaccurate memories recalled. In open-ended question formation, 11.5% of subjects recalled the false event suggested by observers. In a multiple-choice format, no participants claimed the false event had happened. This result led to the conclusion that hypnotic suggestions produce shifts in focus, awareness, and attention. Despite this, subjects do not mix fantasy up with reality.^[1]

Effects on society[edit]

Legal cases[edit]

Therapy-induced memory recovery has made frequent appearances in legal cases, particularly those regarding sexual abuse.^[63] Therapists can often aid in creating a false memory in a victim’s mind, intentionally or unintentionally. They will associate a patient’s behavior with the fact that they have been a victim of sexual abuse, thus helping the memory occur. They use memory enhancement techniques such as hypnosis dream analysis to extract memories of sexual abuse from victims. In Ramona v. Isabella, two therapists wrongly prompted a recall that their patient, Holly Ramona, had been sexually abused by her father. It was suggested that the therapist, Isabella, had implanted one of the sexual abuse memories in Ramona after use of the hypnotic drug sodium amytal. After a nearly unanimous decision, Isabella had been declared negligent towards Holly Ramona. This 1994 legal issue played a massive role in shedding light on the possibility of false memories’ occurrences. ^[64]

In another legal case where false memories were used, they helped a man to be acquitted of his charges. Joseph Pacely had been accused of breaking into a woman’s home with the intent to sexually assault her. The woman had given her description of the assailant to police shortly after the crime had happened. During the trial, memory researcher Elizabeth Loftus testified that memory is fallible and there were many emotions that played a part in the woman’s description given to police. Loftus has published many studies consistent with her testimony.^[40][65][66] These studies suggest that memories can easily be changed around and sometimes eyewitness testimonies are not as reliable as many believe.

Another notable case is Maxine Berry. Maxine grew up in the custody of her mother, who opposed the father having contact with her (Berry & Berry, 2001). When the father expressed his desire to attend his daughter’s high school graduation, the mother enrolled Maxine in therapy, ostensibly to deal with the stress of seeing her father. The therapist pressed Maxine to recover memories of sex abuse by her father. Maxine broke down under the pressure and had to be psychiatrically hospitalized. She underwent tubal ligation, so she would not have children and repeat the cycle of abuse. With the support of her husband and primary care physician, Maxine eventually realized that her memories were false and filed a suit for malpractice. The suit brought to light the mother’s manipulation of mental health professionals to convince Maxine that she had been sexually abused by her father. In February 1997 Maxine Berry sued her therapists^[67] and clinic that treated her from 1992 to 1995 and, she says, made her falsely believe she had been sexually and physically abused as a child when no such abuse ever occurred. The lawsuit, filed in February 1997 in Minnehaha Co. Circuit Court South Dakota, states that therapist Lynda O’Connor-Davis had an improper relationship with Berry, both during and after her treatment. The suit also names psychologist Vail Williams, psychiatrist Dr. William Fuller and Charter Hospital and Charter Counseling Center as defendants. Berry and her husband settled out of court^[68]

Although there have been many legal cases in which false memory appears to have been a factor, this does not ease the process of distinguishing between false memory and real recall. Sound therapeutic strategy can help this differentiation, by either avoiding known controversial strategies or to disclosing controversy to a subject.^[56][1][69]

Harold Merskey published a paper on the ethical issues of recovered-memory therapy.^[69] He suggests that if a patient had pre-existing severe issues in their life, it is likely that «deterioration» will occur to a relatively severe extent upon memory recall. This deterioration is a physical parallel to the emotional trauma being surfaced. There may be tears, writhing, or many other forms of physical disturbance. The occurrence of physical deterioration in memory recall coming from a patient with relatively minor issues prior to therapy could be an indication of the recalled memory’s potential falsehood.^[69]

Children[edit]

False memory is often considered for trauma victims^[70] including those of childhood sexual abuse.^{[71][72][56][73]}

If a child experienced abuse, it is not typical for them to disclose the details of the event when confronted in an open-ended manner.^[74] Trying to indirectly prompt a memory recall can lead to the conflict of source attribution, as if repeatedly questioned the child might try to recall a memory to satisfy a question. The stress being put on the child can make recovering an accurate memory more difficult.^[71] Some people hypothesize that as the child continuously attempts to remember a memory, they are building a larger file of sources that the memory could be derived from, potentially including sources other than genuine memories. Children that have never been abused but undergo similar response-eliciting techniques can disclose events that never occurred.^[74]

One of children’s most notable setbacks in memory recall is source misattribution. Source misattribution is the flaw in deciphering between potential origins of a memory. The source could come from an actual occurring perception, or it can come from an induced and imagined event. Younger children, preschoolers in particular, find it more difficult to discriminate between the two.^[75] Lindsay & Johnson (1987) concluded that even children approaching adolescence struggle with this, as well as recalling an existent memory as a witness. Children are significantly more likely to confuse a source between being invented or existent.^[76]

Shyamalan, Lamb and Sheldrick (1995) partially re-created a study that involved attempted memory implanting in children. The study comprised a series of interviews concerning a medical procedure that the children may have undergone. The data was scored so that if a child made one false affirmation during the interview, the child was classified as inaccurate. When the medical procedure was described in detail, «only 13% of the children answered ‘yes’ to the question ‘Did you ever have this procedure?'». As to the success of implantation with false ‘memories’, the children «assented to the question for a variety of reasons, a false memory being only one of them. In sum, it is possible that no false memories have been created in children in implanted-memory studies».^[77]

Ethics and public opinion[edit]

A 2016 study surveyed the public’s attitude regarding the ethics of planting false memories as an attempt to influence healthy behavior. People were most concerned with the consequences, with 37% saying it was overly manipulative, potentially harmful or traumatic. Their reasons against are that the ends do not justify the means (32%), potential for abuse (14%), lack of consent (10%), practical doubts (8%), better alternative (7%), and free will (3%). Of those who thought implanting false memories would be acceptable, 36% believed the end justified the means, with other reasons being increasing treatment options (6%), people need support (6%), no harm would be done (6%), and it’s no worse than alternatives (5%).^[78]

Potential benefits[edit]

Several possible benefits associated with false memory arrive from fuzzy-trace theory and gist memory. Valerie F. Reyna, who coined the terms as an explanation for the DRM paradigm, explains that her findings indicate that reliance on prior knowledge from gist memory can help individuals make safer, well informed choices in terms of risk taking.^[79] Other positive traits associated with false memory indicate that individuals have superior organizational processes, heightened creativity, and prime solutions for insight based problems. All of these things indicate that false memories are adaptive and functional.^[80] False memories tied to familiar concepts can also potentially aid in future problem solving in a related topic, especially when related to survival.^[81]

See also[edit]

• Source-monitoring error, an effect in which memories are incorrectly attributed to different experiences than the ones that caused them.
• Déjà vu, the feeling that one has lived through the present situation before.
• Jamais vu, the feeling of unfamiliarity with recognised memories.
• Cryptomnesia, a memory that is not recognised as such.
• Lost in the mall technique, a memory implantation technique used to demonstrate that false memories can be implanted through suggestions made to experimental subjects in which the subject is told that an older relative was present at the time.
• Memory conformity
• Inception, a science fiction film dealing with the concept of implanting ideas in sleeping individuals.
• Recursion, a science fiction novel by Blake Crouch which includes topics of false memory.

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• Bjorklund, D. F. (2014). False-memory Creation in Children and Adults: Theory, Research, and Implications. Psychology Press. ISBN 9781138003224
• Conway, M. A. (1997). Recovered Memories and False Memories. Oxford University Press.
• French, C (2003). «Fantastic Memories: The Relevance of Research into Eyewitness Testimony and False Memories for Reports of Anomalous Experiences» (PDF). Journal of Consciousness Studies. 10: 153–174. ISSN 1355-8250. Archived from the original on 13 March 2013.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
• Roediger, Henry L.; Marsh, Elizabeth J. (2009). «False memory». Scholarpedia. 4 (8): 3858. Bibcode:2009SchpJ…4.3858I. doi:10.4249/scholarpedia.3858.
• Schacter, D. L; Curran, T. (1995). «The Cognitive Neuroscience of False Memories». Psychiatric Annals. 25 (12): 727–731. doi:10.3928/0048-5713-19951201-08.

https://az.sputniknews.ru/20211226/effekt-mandely-v-chem-podvokh-fenomena-lozhnykh-vospominaniy-437518679.html

«Эффект Манделы»: в чем подвох феномена ложных воспоминаний?

«Эффект Манделы»: в чем подвох феномена ложных воспоминаний?

Чтобы испытать на себе таинственный «эффект Манделы», пройдите наш тест. В конце вы узнаете ответ, что происходит с вашей памятью. И, поверьте, он вас очень… 26.12.2021, Sputnik Азербайджан

2021-12-26T00:07+0400

2021-12-26T00:07+0400

2021-12-26T00:07+0400

нельсон мандела

https://cdnn1.img.sputnik.az/img/07e5/0c/17/437518611_0:178:3226:1994_1920x0_80_0_0_5e89170f1fdf93aa5ce1270b9fc45e04.jpg

Помните известную новогоднюю песню из любимой многими «Карнавальной ночи» в исполнении Людмилы Гурченко? В ней есть еще такие строчки: «Пять минут, пять минут, это много или мало…»? Конечно помните! Вот, только, является ли содержание нашей памяти тем, что было на самом деле? Не может ли быть так, что все мы коллективно заблуждаемся? И могут ли пробелы в памяти происходить у всех одновременно? В чем же здесь подвох, и при чем здесь африканский лидер Нельсон Мандела? Вопросов много, и мы на все дадим ответ. Но для начала пройдите тест Sputnik Азербайджан, чтобы проверить принцип действия «эффекта Манделы».Секреты памяти: делаем разбор ошибокИтак, реальные факты почему-то перестали совпадать с воспоминаниями многих людей. Наверняка вы в раздумьях или, как минимум, удивлены. Тем более, что процент дающих ошибочные ответы близок к цифре 100. Что это? Массовый гипноз, фейк ньюс, сбой матрицы, эффект бабочки или параллельные миры? А может это эксперименты правительства по принципу «Министерства правды» из романа Оруэлла «1984» — изменение прошлого? Все перечисленное можно отнести к «эффекту Манделы», когда у большого количества людей одинаковые ложные воспоминания. Мы не оставим вас один на один с этой проблемой и поможем разобрать каждый ответ. Итак.Мандела и его феноменПервый вопрос про Нельсона Манделу и является примером, давшим начало феномену с одноименным названием.»Эффект Манделы» — совпадение у многих людей воспоминаний, противоречащих реальным фактам. Так называемая, ложная коллективная память.Дело в том, что в 2013-м большое количество людей в интернете внезапно начало обсуждать смерть политического и государственного деятеля Нельсона Манделы. Люди были убеждены, что политик скончался в тюрьме в 1980-х. Кроме того, они даже могли вспомнить выпуски новостей с сообщениями о смерти Нельсона Манделы.Между тем, политик был освобождён в 1990-м, успел побыть президентом страны и только после этого скончался в 2013-м.Для объяснения этого ложного коллективного воспоминания, а также других примеров, американская писательница Фиона Брум, называющая себя «консультантом по паранормальным явлениям» и издавшая несколько десятков книг, придумала термин «эффект Манделы».В США даже был снят фильм «Эффект Манделы» (The Mandela Effect, 2019) со слоганом – совершите путешествие по лабиринтам памяти. И хоть сама Брум объясняет данный эффект с помощью псевдонаучных теорий (результат перемещения человека в альтернативную реальность), мы не станем поддаваться ее идеям, а обратимся к более правдоподобным объяснениям.Психологи объясняют «эффект Манделы» ложной памятью и социальными эффектами. Это называется конфабуляцией — ложные воспоминания, когда факты, бывшие в действительности либо видоизменённые, переносятся в другое время и могут сочетаться с абсолютно вымышленными событиями.В научных статьях объяснения сводятся к тому, что память работает как сломанный телефон: каждый раз ты вспоминаешь последнюю версию того, что вспоминаешь, а не изначальное событие. Коллективные ложные воспоминания — это стремление людей облегчить бремя информации, трудной для восприятия, а также заполнить пустоты, образовавшиеся в воспоминаниях, собственными домыслами.В случае с Манделой произошла подмена воспоминаний. Экс-президент ЮАР скончался в возрасте 95 лет. До этого он сидел по политической статье 26 лет в тюрьме, потом стал президентом.Пока он страдал, о нем очень часто писала пресса, и это хорошо запечатлела человеческая память. Но когда он вышел и стал президентом, пошла рутина. Более того, ему приходилось решать очень сложные задачи, и по сути, не всегда успешно. В общем, ЮАР ушла из первых строчек новостей. О Манделе в масштабах мировых проблем забыли. Когда он умер, многие удивились тому, что были уверены, что умер он еще тогда, в далекие 90-е. Память сделала подмену в наших головах.Как видим, этот феномен вполне можно объяснить несовершенством памяти.Хрущев и его ботинокВ этом случае речь, скорее всего, может идти о подмене исторических фактов. Всевозможные источники информации рассказывали яркую легенду о том, как советский лидер «поставил на место» всю мировую элиту. Это было в контексте общей советской пропаганды.На самом деле, сын героя — Сергей Хрущев, реалистичной назвал версию репортера The New York Times Джеймса Ферона: Хрущев-старший действительно стучал по столу, но не башмаком, а кулаками. А вот что касается ботинка, так он просто слетел с ноги, когда Хрущев шел к трибуне. Он поднял его, надеть не сумел на ходу и донес с собой к трибуне.Как отмечал фоторедактор журнала Life Джон Лонгард, у трибуны лидер поднял ботинок, присутствовавшие в зале фотокоры нацелили на него свои объективы, но шоу не вышло – Хрущев просто вернул туфлю на ногу. Лонгард уверял, что опытные журналисты ни в коем случае не пропустили бы такой кадр.Каждому, кто тиражировал тему «кузькиной матери и ботинка», стоило задуматься, а где же фото такого невероятного момента? Их нет. А потому, мы просто впечатлились историей и с радостью восприняли сказку за правду.Фраза, которую Ельцин никогда не говорилЕльцин никогда не говорил: «Я устал, я ухожу!». Но нашу память подменили многочисленными мемами. По одной из версий, в создании ложного воспоминания виноваты кавээнщики. Об этом говорил президент «Клуба весёлых и находчивых» Александр Масляков: по его словам, юмористы шутили об уходе Ельцина задолго до главных политических событий, а впоследствии эта фраза стала своеобразным мемом.Вот, что написал один из пользователей интернета про фразу Ельцина: «Я чётко понимаю, что эту инфу получил из инета, и не считаю, что услышал её из первоисточника. Разум ни о чём не твердит, он лишь постулирует то, что принял за истину неверную информацию. Вот и все».Из Нью-Москвы в Нью-ВасюкиЭто массовое заблуждение – пример того, как наша память сжимает цитату, убрав Москву, но при этом не потеряв главного смысла Бендеровского изречения.В памяти: Бендер точно называл Васюки Нью-Васюками.В реальности:»Мой проект гарантирует вашему городу неслыханный расцвет производительных сил. Подумайте, что будет, когда турнир окончится и когда уедут все гости. Жители Москвы, стесненные жилищным кризисом, бросятся в ваш великолепный город. Столица автоматически переходит в Васюки. Сюда приезжает правительство. Васюки переименовываются в Нью-Москву, Москва — в Старые Васюки».Кто продал Аляску, откуда взялся «бульвар Капуцинов» и первый фильм братьев ЛюмьерВсе эти три факта подпадают под похожее объяснение: наша память пала жертвой манипуляции.Начнем с Аляски. Этот миф навсегда закрепила в умах советских людей, многими любимая группа «Любэ». Ради красного словца в хите 90-х годов «Не валяй дурака, Америка!» группа «Любэ», обвинила собирательницу земель русских Екатерину II в сдаче Аляски.На самом деле продал Аляску Штатам правнук Екатерины II, Александр II, и было это спустя 71 год после смерти Екатерины.Миф пошел от строчки в той самой песне: «Много красной у нас материи, Всем рубахи пошьем вам, братва. Эх, корона российской империи… Екатерина, ты была не права». К сожалению, есть много еще примеров массового заблуждения. Остается только гадать – «Любэ» сознательно внедрило это ошибку, или рифма лучше ложилась…Аналогичная ситуация с «бульваром капуцинов». Всем хорошо известен комедийный вестерн Аллы Суриковой «Человек с бульвара Капуцинов», повествующий о том, как горячий поклонник братьев Люмьер и участник первого кинематографического сеанса в Париже на бульваре Капуцинов приезжает в захолустный ковбойский городок и начинает пропагандировать новое искусство.Кинокартину посмотрело огромное количество зрителей, и конечно, всем врезалось в память название фильма. На самом деле, в Париже есть бульвар Капуцинок, и именно там прошел первый в истории киносеанс! Капуцинки – это католический монашеский женский орден. Почему создатели решили переиначить исходное название, доподлинно не известно. Но в наших головах навсегда застряло спланированное ложное воспоминание про Капуцинов.Еще одна распространённая конфабуляция: картина «Прибытие поезда» братьев Люмьер. А ведь это совсем не первый фильм в истории и даже не первая среди работ Люмьер. Вопреки расхожему заблуждению (оно попало даже в советский учебник по истории зарубежного кино), этот ролик не вошёл в программу первого платного киносеанса на бульваре Капуцинок в Париже, поскольку отснят был позднее.Его премьера состоялась только 6 января 1896 года. А вот среди фильмов в программе первого показа — ролик Люмьеров «Выход рабочих с фабрики». Всего в списке было 10 короткометражек, в том числе «Политый поливальщик», спорящий за первенство с «Рабочими…»Вездесущий Элвис Пресли и злополучная банановая кожураАнглоязычный хит Only You в исполнении Пресли и падение из-за банановой кожуры – это работа над нашим сознанием масс-медиа.Дело в том, что продолжительное время нам рассказывали только про одного западного «короля сцены» того времени — Элвиса Пресли. Также, с детства нам продвигали через мультики, причем западные тоже, гэг с падением на банановой кожуре.Те же, кто целенаправленно изучал различные музыкальные коллективы прошлого, прекрасно знают, что песню «Только ты» исполняют The Platters, сделавшие запись песни в 1955 году.Путаница с Пушкиным и Роденовским МыслителемВ данном случае наши заблуждения связаны с наложением в памяти похожих событий. Во-первых, стих «Узник» есть как у Пушкина, так и у Лермонтова. Лермонтовский вариант был написан намного позже и начинается так: «Отворите мне темницу, Дайте мне сиянье дня, Черноглазую девицу, Черногривого коня». Во-вторых, стиль и чувство одиночества в пушкинском «Узнике» больше напоминают стиль Лермонтова и его лирику, поэтому и путаница.Скорее всего, аналогичная путаница произошла и с роденовским «Мыслителем». В нашей памяти кулак упирается в лоб, хотя в реальности – ладонь держит подбородок. Скорее всего в памяти смешались две разные скульптуры: «Мыслитель» Родена и статуэтка «Тэфи» Эрнста Неизвестного, где как раз кулак упирается в лоб.Куда зовет голос издалёка, парадокс с женщиной, объединяемся или соединяемся, дымок или парок, и «рожа Шарапова»В данном случае подойдет самое простое объяснение, и оно не связано с эффектом Манделы – люди сами упростили то, что показалось им сложным для запоминания.Сложную строчку песни из известного кино «Гостья из будущего» заменил сам автор слов Юрий Энтин, но уже после того, как лента вышла в прокат. Действительно, «он зовет меня в чудесные края» куда легче поется и запоминается, чем «он зовет меня не в райские края».Если допустить, что песню мы все-таки слышим чаще вне кино, то все становится логичным. Это, кстати, объяснила сама исполнительница оригинальной песни, когда в сети горячо спорили об этой «ошибке памяти».С известным выражением про «чем меньше женщину мы любим…», с дымком-парком из окна и с «пролетарии соединяйтесь» – та же история. Людям просто понятнее и удобнее говорить: «тем больше нравимся мы ей», «из окон дымок» и «пролетарии всех стран, объединяйтесь!» Согласитесь, так лучше ложится на язык.Что же касается «рожы Шарапова», то слово «видок», звучащее в оригинале, мало употребляется в современной речи.Чудо «пяти минут»Наконец, про феномен с песней про «пять минут». Тут все намного сложнее. Это пример классического эффекта Манделы, пример мема, родившего ложные воспоминания.»Карнавальная ночь» – культовая картина, ее смотрели по многу раз, и она породила много подражаний и мемов. Для возрастного поколения она еще и связана с молодостью, а это значит, что включается и эмоциональная память.В ней, действительно, никогда не было строчек про «это много, или мало». Зато они были в известной песне Валерия Леонтьева про три минуты: «Три минуты, три минуты, Это много или мало, Чтобы жизнь за три минуты, Пролетела, пробежала…».На этом месте можно было бы и закончить наше расследование, и не искать больше черную кошку в черной комнате. Однако, не все так однозначно.Компании очень любят использовать в своих целях распространенные мемы, так сказать, узнаваемые мелодии, слова, картинки. В данном случае на «пять минут» позарился Билайн, и энное количество лет назад выпустил рекламный ролик про 5 гигов. «Пять гигов, пять гигов, это много или мало? Пять гигов, пять гигов, вот попкорн для сериала…» Исполняют его звезды телевидения Алла Михеева, Сергей Светлаков и другие участники «Камеди Клаба».Подмена и наложение нескольких текстов телевидение сделало намеренно. Рекламный ролик повторялся с такой частотой по телевизору, что его наизусть выучило все население.Память не сложно обмануть, особенно в мелочах. Что и произошло с массовым сознанием.Мы показали вам, как создается мем в массовом сознании. Если вы спроецируете этот механизм на многие другие «манделы», то сможете понимать суть происходящего.Еще один момент, о котором надо сказать. Задайте себе вопрос: почему всегда коллективное «помешательство» происходит среди обывателей, которые не являются специалистами в той сфере, о которой рассуждают?Любой квалифицированный литератор расскажет, что «Узника» было два, а киновед поведает про фильмы Люмьера и первый киносеанс на бульваре Капуцинок. Да и про «пять минут», наверняка, вспомнит маркетолог, который в курсе успешных рекламных продуктов и их создания.Задумайтесь об этом, и впредь не позволяйте своей памяти ошибаться, пропуская все данные через призму критического мышления.

2021

Новости

ru_AZ

https://cdnn1.img.sputnik.az/img/07e5/0c/17/437518611_468:0:3199:2048_1920x0_80_0_0_5736bee591ad8a638956c2114a9cc350.jpg

нельсон мандела, тесты

Секреты памяти: делаем разбор ошибок

Мандела и его феномен

Хрущев и его ботинок

Фраза, которую Ельцин никогда не говорил

Из Нью-Москвы в Нью-Васюки

Кто продал Аляску, откуда взялся «бульвар Капуцинов» и первый фильм братьев Люмьер

Вездесущий Элвис Пресли и злополучная банановая кожура

Путаница с Пушкиным и Роденовским Мыслителем

Куда зовет голос издалёка, парадокс с женщиной, объединяемся или соединяемся, дымок или парок, и «рожа Шарапова»

Чудо «пяти минут»