Errors in autobiographical memory.

Memory is always constructive. People create the past based on the information that remains in memory, their general knowledge, and the social demands of the retrieval situation. Thus, memories will often contain some small errors and occasionally some large errors. In this article, we describe several different types of memory errors and consider how these errors may influence therapy.

Recall and validation of phobia origins as a function of a structured interview versus the Phobia Origins Questionnaire.

Memory for fear onset events was examined in 43 dog-fearful and 48 blood/injection-fearful participants. Half of each fear type was administered the Phobia Origins Questionnaire (POQ), and half the Phobia Origins Structured Interview (POSI). Written accounts of recalled onset experiences were sent to participants' parents for verification. More participants assessed by the POQ reported a phobia onset event (93%) than did those assessed by the POSI (54%). A majority in both methods recalled conditioning-like experiences. The POQ resulted in more reports of vicarious and informational onset reports than did the POSI. Parents confirmed more onset event reports obtained by the POSI (81%) than those obtained by the POQ, (50%). In addition, in 21% of cases where a child recalled an event, a parent reported an onset event that predated the one provided by the child. Results are discussed in terms of memory mechanisms operative in autobiographical memories.

Individual differences and the creation of false childhood memories.

We investigated if college students will create false childhood memories, the role of self-knowledge in memory creation, and if there are reliable individual differences related to memory creation. Based on information obtained from parents, we asked college students about several true childhood experiences. We also asked each student about one false event and presented the false event as if it was based on parent information. We asked the students to describe all events in two interviews separated by one day. When participants could not recall an event (whether true or false), we encouraged them to think about related self-knowledge and to try to imagine the event. In an unrelated experimental session, the students were administered four cognitive/personality scales: the Creative Imagination Scale (CIS), the Tellegen Absorption Scale (TAS), the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES), and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (SDS). We found that approximately 25% of the students created false childhood memories. Participants who made connections to related self-knowledge in the first interview were more likely to create false memories. We also found that the CIS and the DES were positively related to memory creation. Factors that decrease one's ability to engage in reality monitoring are related to the acceptance of false events and the creation of false memories.

Memorabeatlia: a naturalistic study of long-term memory.

Seventy-six undergraduates were given the titles and first lines of Beatles' songs and asked to recall the songs. Seven hundred and four different undergraduates were cued with one line from each of 25 Beatles' songs and asked to recall the title. The probability of recalling a line was best predicted by the number of times a line was repeated in the song and how early the line first appeared in the song. The probability of cuing to the title was best predicted by whether the line shared words with the title. Although the subjects recalled only 21% of the lines, there were very few errors in recall, and the errors rarely violated the rhythmic, poetic, or thematic constraints of the songs. Acting together, these constraints can account for the near verbatim recall observed. Fourteen subjects, who transcribed one song, made fewer and different errors than the subjects who had recalled the song, indicating that the errors in recall were not primarily the result of errors in encoding.

Flashbulb memories? The effects of when the initial memory report was obtained.

Why have some researchers found reports of flashbulb memories to be stable, while others have observed inconsistencies? Paradoxically, it appears that relatively long delays between event and initial documentation have produced greater consistency of participants' reports. To investigate this directly, we collected the initial documentation of hearing about O.J. Simpson's acquittal either five hours or one week after the acquittal was read. Observed consistency of memories varied as a function of documentation time; following an eight-week retention, the delayed reports were more consistent. The delayed group also reported fewer propositions in their initial documentation. We proposed a consolidation model to explain these results: during the days immediately following a newsworthy event, the narrative structure of these memories changes in that some details are forgotten. After this consolidation period, the memories may solidify. Thus, it may have been easier for the delayed group to provide consistent memories at the two intervals.