PSYC 1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Elizabeth Loftus
SP18 PSYC 1: 1
Lecture 15: Memory 05-07-2018
Elizabeth Loftus and
Memory TED Talk
Implanted
Memories
• www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_loPus_the_ficVon_of_memory?language=en#t-
77930
• Case: survivor claimed Titus was the closest to the rapist
o On trial, survivor claimed Titus was the rapist
• “tudies false eories
o Feed suggestive information
▪ Eg. psychotherapy may lead to mis-memories
• Ethicality?
o Psychologists cannot ethically plant false memories in patients, even if
patients may be helped
o Parents could plant false memories in kids? child has obesity, can plant
false memories to change habits (ethicality debated)
• In 1974, people were asked to watch a minor car accident
o How fast were the ars goig whe they hit? 31mph
o How fast were the ars goig whe they smashed? reported higher
speeds ph ad reeered roke glass that was’t there
• Implanted examples
o In a Loftus study, participants were asked to recall details of being lost in a
mall as a child even though this never occurred.
o 25% of the participants reported that this incident occurred (successfully
implanted this memory)
o You a’t tell how real a eory is y how real it feels
• Constructed examples
o Television courtrooms shows make it look like there is often false
testimony because people are intentionally lying
o We tend to alter our memories to fit our current views
▪ Eg. staying in an unhealthy relationship and focusing on the good
things; after leaving relationship, focus on bad things
• Imagination inflation
• What are 3 things we do that change our memories?
1. If we picture an event, it can seem like a real memory overtime
2. Once we have an inaccurate memory, we can imagine more details to make it
seem more real
3. This happens because visualizing certain events in our memories and actually
seeing events activates similar parts of the brain
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