Reader\'s Digest Australia & New Zealand - June 2018

June• 2018 | 91

cell to another. Memories are formed

when particular connections between

these neurons are strengthened. False

memoriesandrealmemoriesseemto

rely on the exact same mechanisms to

become lodged in the brain.

It’s tempting to think of memor y

asapersonalCCTVsystem,record-

ing everything we see or do. In ac-

tuality, as the founder of applied

memory science Professor Elizabeth

Loftusexplains,it’smorelikeaWiki-

pediapage.“Youcangointhereand

changeit,butsocanotherpeople.”

When we recall a memory, we

aren’t lipping through the Rolodex

ofourmindstoproducethecorrect

ile–we’rewritingthatileoutanew.

We act ively recreate our memories

everytimewethinkofthem,adding

room for potential fabrication or mis-

rememberingeachtime.

hinkaboutyourearliestmemory.

Perhapsyourememberthebirthof

a sibling, your irst taste of birthday

cakeoratraumatictriptotheden-

tist. Maybe you’re even one of the few

whocanrecalltheirownbirth.Well,

if any of those memories occurred

beforeyouturnedthreeyearsold,

badnews:they’redeinitelyfalse.

AsShawexplains,it’sphysically

impossible for our brains to form

long-lasting memories when we’re

that young. “Almost everybody thinks

theyhaveamemoryfromchildhood

that’s actually impossible.”

These false childhood memories

are often caused by a process called

‘memory conformity’, where details

we’ve learned through the accounts

of others can implant entirely false

memories,orleadustoacceptthe

experiencesofothersasourown.

Perhapsyouremembertellingsome-

oneastoryaboutyourself,onlyto

realise that it had actually happened

to them. hat’s memory conformity.

THIS PHENOMENONhas serious

implications for the criminal jus-

tice system. If eyewitness accounts

canmutatethroughdiscussionor

theprocessofrememberingitself,

then their reliability becomes com-

promised.Andresearchhasshown

that emotional memories are no less

PeterReillypicturedtheweekend

after his conviction

PHOTO: KEYSTONE PICTURES USA/ALAMY