Abstract
In recent history, research has shown that human beings’ memory cannot always be accurate and
that our confidence in our memory could be misplaced. Memory is a vital part of survival and a
human's memory is one that puts them above all other species in the world. However, our
memory hasn’t always been so accurate and the idea of false memories has affected people
nowadays. Interference theory states that memory can be disrupted based on a person’s
experience in the past and their experience through life; whether it be a traumatic event or the
way the information was presented to a person, memory can interfere. Furthermore, research has
been done on short and long-term memory that shows a variety of ways they can be distorted.
Lastly, no matter the person’s age, false memories affect all age groups and are more prominent
in children.
Keywords: memory, interference theory, short term, and long term memory, false
memories
Humans' ability to have accurate memory can be disrupted by interference from
experiences in the past and present, and distraction. The role of memory in the lives of human
beings is of utmost importance and is essential for survival. Also, researchers who studied
updating memories state that “An important role of our memories is to inform future behaviors
based on previous experiences (Exton-McGuinness et al., 2015).” This is an important finding, a
person’s experiences can lead to growth and progress in their life. The memory of that
experience can lead to the person knowing which action worked or did not work and adjust from
there. However, a person’s memory is not always accurate and the purpose of this paper is to
expound on some elements of false memories. Furthermore, this paper will also show techniques
to minimize the potential of false memories.
Memory errors are known in the psychological world and highly researched. False
memories and remembering experiences that didn’t happen more often than other memory
problems (Exton-McGuinness et al., 2015). Howe and colleagues researched the notion that false
memories do not always have to be negative, and they found that priming false memory during
the encoding process for the children and adults allowed for increased problem solving (2015).
