Where There is Non-willing There is a Way

Hanley, Catriona; Circle, Heidegger

doi:10.5840/heideggercircle20084214

Cited by 1 publication

(2 citation statements)

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“…139 Whatever the neural mechanisms at work, 'you may often be able to remember many biographical details about the person, but still be unable to put a name to his or her face'. 140 Although we typically remember names more easily if we have used them frequently or recently, 141 we nonetheless often forget the names of people who are 'very familiar', even those whom we have known for many years. 142 One study looking at mental blocks found, in fact, that the majority of its subjects' memory gaps were for the names of friends and acquaintances.…”

Section: Namesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…147 Without question there is 'a wide range of individual differences in ability' to remember names. 148 Yet 'many people are not at all good' at it, 149 and enough are so bad that it can be hard for medical professionals to tell, for example, whether a patient's poor memory for names is simply the result of everyday bad memory, or whether it is a sign of a more serious memory impairment. In other words, when it comes to memory for names, enough of us are impaired enough that 'the line between normal and pathological performance is blurred'.…”

Section: Namesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Refugee Status Determinations and the Limits of Memory

Cameron

2010

International Journal of Refugee Law

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Refugee status decision makers typically have unreasonable expectations of what and how people remember. Many assume that our minds record all aspects of the events that we experience, and that these memories are stored in our brains and remain unchanged over time.Decades of psychological research has demonstrated, however, that our memories are neither so complete nor so stable, even setting aside the effects on memory of trauma and stress. Whole categories of information are difficult to recall accurately, if at all: temporal information, such as dates, frequency, duration and sequence; the appearance of common objects; discrete instances of repeated events; peripheral information; proper names; and the verbatim wording of verbal exchanges. In addition, our autobiographical memories change over time, and may change significantly. As a result, while gaps or inconsistencies in a claimant's testimony may in some cases properly lead to a negative credibility finding, such aspects are often misleading and should never be used mechanically, and the bar must be set much lower. Many decision makers must fundamentally readjust their thinking about claimants' memories if they are to avoid making findings that are as unsound as they are unjust.The first section of this article highlights common failures of memory that are relevant to the refugee determination process: memory for time (dates, duration, frequency and sequence); common objects; repeated events; peripheral information; names; and verbatim memory. The second explores how memory changes over time, and concludes by noting that the test conditions at the IRB likely contribute to the inconsistency of claimants' memories. Although the examples throughout are taken from Canada's refugee determination system, the points made apply equally to the refugee determination systems of other countries. Availability/AccessibilityCertain categories of information are not encoded in our memories, or are encoded but are not easily accessed. In reconstructing our memories of events, we have trouble recalling such information accurately, if at all. 4 TimeAfter many years of studies, researchers agree that in remembering we have access to 'very little temporal information'. 5 There is no question that we can remember events in considerable detail and still have only a vague idea of when they happened, or how often, or for how long, or in what order. DatesWhen we remember an event, our ability to assign a date to it is nearly always based on 'inference, estimation and guesswork'. 6 With enough 'clues to the correct answer', 7 we may be able to reconstruct when the event must have taken place, 8 but since our guesses are only as good as our clues, they are often not very good at all. In fact, as study upon study have shown, 'the dates that individuals assign to their past events are rarely accurate'. 9

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Section: Namesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Namesmentioning

confidence: 99%