New Study Finds False Memories Can be Reversed
Frosty Piss writes:
Scientists have long studied the fallibility of human memory. False-memory research has been controversial. Cognitive scientists and psychologists often disagree on how easy it is to develop false memories and how often that occurs. It has also been controversial partly because police investigations and court proceedings rely on the quality of memories. Researchers in Germany and the U.K. said they were able to plant false memories and then help study volunteers root them out, work that suggests potential remedies to ease the problem of erroneous recollections. In this new study, researchers sought to prove what they said was a relatively unexplored area of research: how to undo false memories.
New study finds false memories can be reversed:
The study highlights - for the first time - techniques that can correct false recollections without damaging true memories
[...] "By empowering people to stay closer to their own truth, rather than rely on other sources, we showed we could help them realise what might be false or misremembered - something that could be very beneficial in forensic settings." - Dr Hartmut Blank, Reader in Experimental and Social Psychology
Journal Reference:
Aileen Oeberst, Merle Madita Wachendorfer, Roland Imhoff, et al. Rich false memories of autobiographical events can be reversed [$], Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2026447118)
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