Scientists planted false memories on people, and then easily removed them from memory

Scientists planted false memories on people, and then easily removed them from memory
Scientists planted false memories on people, and then easily removed them from memory
Anonim

In a new study, scientists have shown how you can implant false childhood memories into a person's imagination, and then fix them without damaging the real ones.

In a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers recruited 52 people to research childhood memories. They asked the participants' parents in advance to privately answer the questionnaire, recall some real events from the children's lives, and come up with two plausible but fake ones.

The parents then convinced the participants to believe that all the memories were real. Among the fake memories were cases of children getting lost during a joint vacation, running away from home, or experiencing the death of a beloved pet.

After that, 52 participants held a series of conversations with scientists, where they recalled events from the past. After three sessions, more than half (56%) of the participants believed that fake events from the past actually happened in their childhood.

Scientists were able to remove false memories without telling the participants which ones were fake. In one case, they asked participants to recall the source of the event (photographs, videos, or early stories of family members), and then many understood which of the events had never happened.

Re-recalling events also sometimes revealed false memories. With this in mind, participants were asked to recall their own memories of the events, after which many realized which memories were false.

According to scientists, their work not only shows how human memories can be plastic, but also indicates that the confessions and testimony in the courtroom cannot be completely trusted. If false memories are so easy to "implant" into a person, then with the help of subtle methods of suggestion it is possible to confuse the witness.

Recommended: