Thread: False memories of fabricated events

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....act_id=2201941

Abstract: ****
In the largest false memory study to date, 5,269 participants were asked about their memories for three true and one of five fabricated political events. Each fabricated event was accompanied by a photographic image purportedly depicting that event. Approximately half the participants falsely remembered that the false event happened, with 27% remembering that they saw the events happen on the news. Political orientation appeared to influence the formation of false memories, with conservatives more likely to falsely remember seeing Barack Obama shaking hands with the president of Iran, and liberals more likely to remember George W. Bush vacationing with a baseball celebrity during the Hurricane Katrina disaster. A follow-up study supported the explanation that events are more easily implanted in memory when they are congruent with a person's preexisting attitudes and evaluations, in part because attitude-congruent false events promote feelings of recognition and familiarity, which in turn interfere with source attributions.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

LOL, I just finished a Mass Effect 3 mission about 2 minutes ago about Reaper indoctrination, this sounds just like that. That is a fascinating abstract; I will definitely be reading this

Confirmation bias

Originally Posted by MaFioSo

Confirmation bias

A lot of drama could be avoided by constantly replying with links to this article.

**Ducks**

-H

In the same vein... Have you ever seen something on the news and thought you were watching a rerun or something? This is a bit more than simple deja vu though. It hasn't happened to me in quite a while but one such instance was a celebrity death (I can't remember who any more as this was around 10 years ago)... I read that a celebrity had died on CNN.com and thought that they had necro-posted an old obituary or something. I checked the date and even went to another site to verify it. I *distinctly* remembered that person having died some 2-3 years prior. I remembered being a little sad because I had been a fan. I remembered reading the obit. I remembered details about the death. I remembered where I was at when I read it. It was quite "odd".

But it seems to go along with the "false memories" thing. I just don't know, as opposed to the political thing where memories were "planted", where my particular memories came from. It's happened more than once in a similar way, but as I've said, it hasn't happened in quite a while.

Originally Posted by Kanati8869

In the same vein... Have you ever seen something on the news and thought you were watching a rerun or something? This is a bit more than simple deja vu though. It hasn't happened to me in quite a while but one such instance was a celebrity death (I can't remember who any more as this was around 10 years ago)... I read that a celebrity had died on CNN.com and thought that they had necro-posted an old obituary or something. I checked the date and even went to another site to verify it. I *distinctly* remembered that person having died some 2-3 years prior. I remembered being a little sad because I had been a fan. I remembered reading the obit. I remembered details about the death. I remembered where I was at when I read it. It was quite "odd".

But it seems to go along with the "false memories" thing. I just don't know, as opposed to the political thing where memories were "planted", where my particular memories came from. It's happened more than once in a similar way, but as I've said, it hasn't happened in quite a while.

Alzheimer's is a bitch.

Originally Posted by CivilWars

Alzheimer's is a bitch.

I'll remember that next time someone wants help with a server.

Or... maybe I wont. oO

Originally Posted by Alundil

So that seems like deja vu to me too. Deja vu, mentally, is fascinating.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

It's weird because I've HAD deja vu before. Everyone has and I understand that phenomenon. It's kind of a vague thought that you've done "this" before or saw "that" before. That you've done something before. Like you are repeating movements, thoughts, feelings, etc. This was something more. It wasn't a vague sense that I had seen (in this case) the obituary before and thought that possibly that person had died before. This was VERY clear and vivid recollection of DIFFERENT actions, thoughts, feelings, etc. But just as real as the ones I was currently feeling. I VIVIDLY remembered seeing the obit. I remember reading the details. I remembered talking with a co-worker about it (OH!! That person ALSO remembered me talking with them about it but wasn't sure about details or even who it was.) I remembered it as something that had happened. Not as a vague "deja vu" moment.

Twilight zone material, I know.