The power of imagination / The weakness of dating: on two origins of autobiographical memory distortion

Nurkova V.V.; Vasilenko D.A.

doi:10.17759/psylaw.2017070115

Psychology and Law - №1 / 2022 | Перейти к описанию

Web of Science СС

Previous issue (2021. Vol. 11, no. 4)

Included in Web of Science СС (ESCI)

Psychology and Law

Publisher: Moscow State University of Psychology and Education

ISSN (online): 2222-5196

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/psylaw

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

Published since 2011

Published quarterly

Free of fees
Open Access Journal

RU In Russian

Psychology and Law
2017. Vol. 7, no. 1, 182–192
doi:10.17759/psylaw.2017070115
ISSN: 2222-5196 (online)

The power of imagination / The weakness of dating: on two origins of autobiographical memory distortion ¹¹⁵⁴

Nurkova V.V.
PhD in Psychology, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
e-mail: vernur@yahoo.com

Vasilenko D.A.
graduate, Lomonosov State University, Moscow, Russia
e-mail: baskun4ak@mail.ru

PDF (ENG)

PDF (RUS)

The article focuses on issues of autobiographical memory malleability which are of high relevance to forensic practice. Taking into account both single case report and mass studies we revealed that time is the weakest aspect of autobiographical recollection. Namely, dating of past event and ordering of event components are prone to memory distortion to the maximum extent. Paradoxically, it coincides with high confidence in accuracy of event recalled. Than we shifted to the most discussed in the relevant literature mechanism of memory transformation i.e. imagination inflation. This mechanism consists of mistaking just imagined event for a real one. We also noted that high subjective probability of imagined event and reliable source of misinformation make significant impact into memory transformation.

Keywords: constructiveness of cognition, autobiographical memory, subjective confidence, autobiographical memory’s malleability.

Column: Forensic and Clinical Psychology in Legal Context

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/psylaw.2017070115

For Reference

Nurkova V.V., Vasilenko D.A. The power of imagination / The weakness of dating: on two origins of autobiographical memory distortion [Elektronnyi resurs]. Psikhologiia i pravo = Psychology and Law, 2017. Vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 182–192. doi:10.17759/psylaw.2017070115.

Nourkova V.V. Problema istinnosti avtobiograficheskih vospominanij v processe sudoproizvodstva [The problem of autobiographical memory accuracy during forensic process] // Psikhologicheskii Zhurnal [Psychological Journal], 1998, vol. 19, no. 5, pp.15–30.
Nourkova V.V., Bernstein D.M., Loftus E.F. Echo vzryvov: sravnitel’nyi analiz vospominanyi moskvichei o terroristicheskih aktah 1999 g. (Moscva) i 2001 g. Niu (Yiork) [Echo of explosions: Comporative analysis of recollections about the terrorists attacks at 1999 (Moscow) and 2001 (New-York city)] // Psikhologicheskii Zhurnal [Psychological Journal]. 2003, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 64–72.
Nourkova V.V. Doverchivaja pamjat': Kak informacija vkljuchaetsja v sistemu avtobiograficheskih znanij. Kn: Kognitivnye issledovanija: sb. nauchnyh trudov. T. 2 / [Credulous Memory: How the information is accepted by a system of autobiographical knowledge. Cognitive studies]. V.D. Soloviev, T.V.Chernigovskaya (eds.) Moscow: Institut psihologii RAN Publ., 2008, pp. 87–102.
Conway A., Skitka L.J., Hemmerich J.A., Kershaw T. C. Flashbulb Memory for 11 September 2001 // Applied Cognitive Psychology. 2009. Vol.23 (5), P. 605-623.
French L., Garry M., Loftus E.F. False memories: A kind of confabulation in non-clinical subjects. In W.Hirstein (Ed.): Confabulation. Views from neuroscience, psychiatry, psychology, and philosophy. Oxford, NY: Oxford University Press, 2009. P. 33–67.
Greenberg D. President Bush’s False ‘Flashbulb’ Memory of 9/11/01 // Applied Cognitive Psychology. 2004. Vol.18, P. 363–370.
Hyman I.E., Husband T.H., Billings F.J. False memories of childhood experiences // Applied Cognitive Psychology. Vol.9(3), P.181-197.
Hyman I.E., Pentland J. The role of mental imagery in the creation of false childhood memories // Journal of Memory and Language. 1996. Vol.35 (2), P.101-117.
Lindsay D. S., Hagen L., Read J. D., Wade K. A., & Garry M. True photographs and false memories // Psychological Science. 2004. Vol.15, P.149–154.
Mazzoni G. A. L., Lombardo P., Malvagia S., & Loftus E. F. Dream interpretation and false beliefs // Professional Psychology: Research and Practice. 1999. Vol.30, P. 45–50.
Mazzoni G.A.L., Loftus E.F., Kirsch J. Changing beliefs about implausible autobiographical events: a little plausibility goes a long way // Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied. 2001. Vol. 7 (1), P.51-59.
Pezdek K., Lam S. What research paradigms have cognitive psychologists used to study ‘‘False memory,’’ and what are the implications of these choices? // Consciousness and Cognition. 2007. Vol.16, P.2–17.
Spanos N. P., Burgess C. A., Burgess M. F., Samuels C., & Blois W. O. Creating false memories of infancy with hypnotic and non-hypnotic procedures // Applied Cognitive Psychology. 1999. Vol.13(3), P.201-218.
Wade K. A., Garry M., Read J. D., & Lindsay S. A picture is worth a thousand lies: Using false photographs to create false childhood memories // Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. 2002. Vol.9, P.597–603.
Wade K.A.1., Sharman S.J., Garry M., Memon A, Mazzoni G., Merckelbach H., Loftus E.F. False claims about false memory research // Conscious and Cognition. 2007. Vol.16(1), P.18-28.
Wagenaar W.A. My memory: A study of autobiographical memory over six years // Cognitive Psychology. 1986. Vol.18, P.225–252.