Our changeable memories: legal and practical implications

Loftus, Elizabeth F.

doi:10.1038/nrn1054

Cited by 232 publications

(159 citation statements)

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“…Typically, false memories are viewed as a negative consequence of our reconstructive memory system, a type of memory that might lead to miscarriages of justice (Loftus, 2003). However, recent research has demonstrated that the production of false memories need not always have negative implications (see Howe, 2011a;Newman & Lindsay, 2009;Schacter et al, 2011).…”

Section: True and False Memoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Priming children’s and adults’ analogical problem solutions with true and false memories

Howe

Threadgold

Norbury

et al. 2013

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology

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This is the accepted version of the paper.This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. lists where the critical lure (and problem solution) was presented as the initial word in the list (true memory priming), three of which were primed by DRM lists whose critical lures were the solution to the verbal proportional analogies (false memory priming), and three that were unprimed. We controlled for age differences in solution rates (knowledge base) in order to examine developmental differences in speed-ofprocessing. As anticipated, the results showed that adults completed the problems significantly faster than children. Furthermore, both children and adults solved problems primed with false memories significantly faster than either those primed with true memories or unprimed problems. For both age groups there was no significant difference between solution times for unprimed and true primed problems. Permanent repository linkThese findings demonstrate that (a) priming of problem solutions extends to verbal proportional analogies, (b) false memories are more effective at priming problem solutions than true memories, and (c) there are clear positive consequences to the production of false memories.

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Section: True and False Memoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Priming children’s and adults’ analogical problem solutions with true and false memories

Howe

Threadgold

Norbury

et al. 2013

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This process of memory updating, later termed "reconsolidation," was rediscovered in 2000 and shown to be dependent on protein synthesis in the lateral amygdala (Nader et al 2000) or hippocampus depending on the type of memory recalled (Debiec et al 2002). Examples abound in humans that highlight the dramatic instances in which distorted memories of crime scenes, childhood events, and traumatic experiences-often recalled under interrogation in the court of law or during psychotherapy sessions-disrupt both individual well-being and modern jurisprudence (Loftus 2003;Schacter and Loftus 2013). having never been naturally, or exogenously, presented (Johansen et al 2010).…”

Section: Generating False Memories Based On Memory Engram Cellsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification and Manipulation of Memory Engram Cells

Liu¹,

Ramirez

Redondo³

et al. 2014

Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol

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How memories are formed and stored in the brain remains a fascinating question in neuroscience.Here we discuss the memory engram theory, our recent attempt to identify and manipulate memory engram cells in the brain with optogenetics, and how these methods are used to address questions such as how false memory is formed, and how the valence of a memory can be changed in the brain. 3How and where memory is stored in the brain network is one of the fundamental questions in brain and cognitive sciences. At the onset of the 20 th century, a German biologist Richard Semon proposed the engram theory of memory (Semon 1923), but the theory was nearly completely ignored by his contemporary and subsequent brain researchers, until Daniel Schactor, James Eich, and Endel Tulving revived the theory in the late 1970s (Schacter et al. 1978). Semon's memory engram theory was built on two fundamental postulates termed the "Law of Engraphy" and the "Law of Ecphory" for memory storage and memory retrieval, respectively. The law of Engraphy posits: "All simultaneous excitations (derived from experience)…with in our organisms form a connected simultaneous complex of excitations which, as such, acts engraphically, that is to say leaves behind it a connected, and to that extent, unified engram-complex" (Semon 1923). The Law of Ecphory on the other hand posits: "The partial return of an energetic situation which has fixed itself engraphically acts in an ecphoric sense upon a simultaneous engram-complex" (Semon 1923).Semon's conceptualizations of the memory process were novel at his time, and were remarkably predictive of the contemporary concepts of memory storage and retrieval. For instance, Semon's memory retrieval process contained the concept of "pattern completion," which was advanced years later (Marr 1970;Nakazawa et al. 2003;Leutgeb et al. 2004). However, Semon did not elaborate the biological basis of the "simultaneous excitations" nor "a connected, unified engram-complex." This is not surprising considering that his theory was put forward nearly a century before the development of molecular, cellular, and genetic biology, and sophisticated imaging and electrophysiological technologies for the analysis of the nervous system.Incorporating the current knowledge about neurons, synaptic connections, and neuronal circuits, These studies were consistent with the notion that episodic memories are stored in the MTLs.As to the nature of memory engrams-enduring physical and chemical changes induced by learning-the guiding hypothesis has been Donald Hebb's theory, which posits that neurons encoding memory stimuli undergo enduring strengthening of some of their synapses through their co-activation with presynaptic cells: neurons that "fire together wire together" (Hebb 1949).Starting with Tim Bliss and Terje Lomo's discovery of long-term potentiation (Bliss and Lomo 5 1973), which supports Hebb's hypothesis, a large amount of studies have been directed to the characterization of LTP and other facets of synaptic plasticity, and thei...

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“…Based on false memory studies, scientists have argued that false suggestions could induce people to testify about events they never witnessed (Loftus, 2003). Yet there are important differences between false memory studies and real-life crimes.…”

Section: Nominated By Graham Davies -Editor In Chiefmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These findings, and the false memory literature more generally, show that false information or fabricated evidence can be powerfully suggestive; it can alter individuals' beliefs and cultivate rich false memories about both public and personal events. Based on false memory studies, scientists have argued that false suggestions could induce people to testify about events they never witnessed (Loftus, 2003). Yet there are important differences between false memory studies and real-life crimes.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

From the archive: ‘Can fabricated evidence induce false eyewitness testimony?’ by K. A. Wade, S. L. Green, & R. A. Nash (2010). Applied Cognitive Psychology, 24, 899–908 with commentary

2011

Applied Cognitive Psychology

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SUMMARYFalse information can influence people's beliefs and memories. But can fabricated evidence induce individuals to accuse another person of doing something they never did? We examined whether exposure to a fabricated video could produce false eyewitness testimony. Subjects completed a gambling task alongside a confederate subject, and later we falsely told subjects that their partner had cheated on the task. Some subjects viewed a digitally manipulated video of their partner cheating; some were told that video evidence of the cheating exists; and others were not told anything about video evidence. Subjects were asked to sign a statement confirming that they witnessed the incident and that their corroboration could be used in disciplinary action against the accused. See-video subjects were three times more likely to sign the statement than Told-video and Control subjects. Fabricated evidence may, indeed, produce false eyewitness testimony; we discuss probable cognitive mechanisms. Copyright # 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 'The time was, we thought of photographs as recorders of reality. Now we know they largely invent reality', writes Holland Cotter of The New York Times (Cotter, 2008). He is right of course: Digital-trickery is part-and-parcel of everyday life. Yet fabricated images or video-footage can be extraordinarily compelling and difficult to detect, and forensic experts are increasingly called upon in criminal and civil cases to determine whether digital evidence has been altered (Peterson, 2006). In this paper we examine whether doctored video-footage can induce people to testify about an event they never witnessed. Unlike previous eyewitness studies, we set out to examine whether people will falsely accuse another person of committing a misdemeanour when there are ostensibly real consequences to making that accusation. To this end we developed a new experimental procedure-a laboratory analogue for exposing witnesses to fabricated evidence and obtaining false eyewitness testimony. Before describing this novel procedure, we review the scientific literature that shows verbal suggestions, and fabricated evidence in the form of digitally manipulated images, can alter people's autobiographies. Misinformation, false beliefs and false memoriesResearchers have amply demonstrated the ease with which false information can lead people to report witnessing events that never happened, or to give inaccurate reports about APPLIED COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY (2007), for instance, exposed adults to photographs of significant public events; including a major peace demonstration that took place in Rome. Some subjects viewed doctored photos of the demonstration that suggested the event was more violent than it truly was. Subjects exposed to the doctored photo remembered the demonstration as being more violent and reported less inclination to participate in future demonstrations than did subjects exposed to the real photo. These findings, and the false memory literature more generally, show that false information or fabric...

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Our changeable memories: legal and practical implications

Cited by 232 publications

References 13 publications

Priming children’s and adults’ analogical problem solutions with true and false memories

Priming children’s and adults’ analogical problem solutions with true and false memories

Identification and Manipulation of Memory Engram Cells

From the archive: ‘Can fabricated evidence induce false eyewitness testimony?’ by K. A. Wade, S. L. Green, & R. A. Nash (2010). Applied Cognitive Psychology, 24, 899–908 with commentary

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