14 memory traps that change our past and affect the future

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Everyone should be aware of these cognitive distortions in order not to be deceived by their own memory.

Cognitive biases are systematic thinking errors that affect judgments and decisions. There are many examples of such traps, and some of them are associated with errors in our memory.

The idea that the future is unpredictable is refuted every day by the ease with which we think the past can be explained.

Daniel Kahneman Israeli-American psychologist, Nobel laureate

We believe that our memory will not let us down, we focus on it. But it is full of pitfalls that can influence further actions. Some pitfalls are aimed at boosting self-esteem, protecting us, and helping to maintain a positive mindset. Others may seem completely harmless at first glance, but in fact they are an obstacle to making the right decisions.

1. False memory or paramnesia

This memory impairment manifests itself in the distortion of existing memories. Filling in the gaps in memory is compensated by false memories: events that happened in reality are significantly shifted in time, the fictional seems to be real. Paramnesia can be caused by mental disorders. It can also manifest itself during the treatment of amnesia.

However, there are examples where false memories have been instilled by E. F. Loftus. Creating False Memories / Scientific American during a psychotherapy session. Nurse Nadine Cool turned to a psychiatrist to help her cope with her daughter's trauma. The physician used hypnosis and other suggestive methods, even resorting to exorcism. As a result, he inspired Nadine that she belonged to a satanic cult, was raped and in general she had 120 different personalities.

When Nadine realized that the psychiatrist had instilled in her false memories of events that in fact did not take place, she sued him for criminal negligence and received compensation for $ 2.4 million.

2. Cryptomnesia

Sometimes we remember information, but we forget its source. And, as a result, we pass the memory off as a product of our imagination and engage in unconscious plagiarism. For example, we hum a melody that we once heard, mistaking it for ours.

It can be a very old memory that suddenly appeared in the head and perceived as something new, just invented by us personally.

3. Confusion with the source of information

We think that we remember the situation, since we witnessed it, although in fact another person told us about it, we read about it in the newspaper or heard it on TV.

Information received from external sources can sit in our head and pretend to be a memory based on personal experience.

4. The effect of disinformation

Information obtained later distorts previous memories of the event. This cognitive bias refers to retroactive interference.

If we are given new false information about an event that we remember in our own way and, possibly, at which we even personally attended, it will be accepted as true. And the original memory will change.

5. Flashback or hindsight error

This trap is also called "I knew it!" We characterize the events that happened as obvious and predictable, relying on today's knowledge.

We remember the situation as if its outcome was obvious in advance, although the decisive factors became known only when the event had already occurred.

It would seem that there is nothing wrong with a hindsight error. But this is not entirely true: people who are inclined to repeat it over and over again become overly self-confident, do not analyze “predicted” situations, the outcome of which they supposedly knew in advance. This can lead to rash actions, the result of which will be predicted by analogy with the past. In reality, of course, this is not the case.

6. Retrospective through rose-colored glasses

The phenomenon in which we remember events from the past in a more positive way than everything actually happened.

We look at the experience gained through the prism of rose-colored glasses, even if at that moment what was happening seemed to us not the most pleasant.

This is due to the fact that over time we stop focusing on the little things, and remember the event as a whole.

This is confirmed by the experiment of T. R. Mitchell, L. Thompson, E. Peterson, R. Cronk. Temporal Adjustments in the Evaluation of Events: The “Rosy View” / Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, in which subjects described their vacation immediately after it and after some time. The first reviews included specific passages that the participants in the experiment perceived as negative. However, as time passed, their memories became more positive, and the moments previously designated as negative were not even mentioned.

7. Distortion of an already defined place

In situations where we deliberately rate our abilities above average, we remember our results as the best in comparison with the results of others. Conversely, when we rate ourselves below average, we remember ourselves as having performed worse than others.

8. Telescope effect

Events that happened long ago seem to us to be recent (straight telescope), while recent events are more distant (reverse telescope).

The starting point for the telescope effect is three years. Events that happened more than three years ago fall into the category of a straight telescope, and less than three - a reverse one. The perception of what happened at the turn of three years can shift both forward and backward.

9. Egocentric Distortion

In memories, our merits are exaggerated, especially when it comes to comparison with the achievements of other people. And we remember our own successes differently than others remember them.

It is much easier for us to remember information if it is relevant to us - this is called the effect of self-reference.

To pamper our own ego, we often credit ourselves with a few extra points: we passed the test better than we actually did, invested more in a joint project than our partner did.

Excessive D. Goleman. A Bias Puts Self at Center of Everything / The New York Times, self-centeredness can be a sign of anxiety and nervous disorder in a person, and a minimized sense of self-importance is a signal of a depressive state.

10. Effect of generation or self-generation

It is easier for us to remember the information that we have generated ourselves. We are more willing to remember what we have said than what we have heard or read.

The fact is that the process of creating information is more complicated than its audio or visual perception. We need to work harder to generate information than to read it, and this contributes to better memorability.

11. Expediency of choice

We remember and exaggerate the positive characteristics of the selected product, ignoring the negative arguments.

In fact, we simply justify our choice, even if it was not the most successful one.

You can give an example from life: choosing between several products and buying only one, we will remember its characteristics as better than they really are, forgetting about the shortcomings. While about the product that we did not buy, we will remember more in a negative way, focusing on the shortcomings.

12. Effect of context

We recall individual elements in the context of a generalizing event or situation. A set of external factors and our own feelings and perceptions are preserved in our memory. So, for example, it will be easier for a student to pass the exam and reproduce the information learned if the preparation for it took place in a room close to the examination room.

This effect works when we remember a specific place, season, or even a specific scent. Together with them, any detail associated with one or another episode of life can appear in the memory.

This memory trap is fertile ground for marketers. Consumers are more likely to buy those products that they have experienced in a pleasant environment. After all, they remember not only the product, but everything that surrounded it, as well as their own emotional state.

13. Effect of smoothing and sharpening

With anti-aliasing, information is stored in memory in a simplified form, without specifics and details. We remember context and general data.

When sharpening things are exactly the opposite: we memorize individual fragments and highlight the essential details of the information available in memory.

14. The fading effect of negative memories

We are quicker and more willing to forget the bad than the good. Researchers believe W. R. Walker, J. J. Skowronski. The Fading Affect Bias: But What the Hell Is It For? / Applied Cognitive Psychology that it is necessary for our self-esteem and stimulation of positive emotions.

This memory trap is a kind of protection against negative memories. It helps build positive thinking and motivation. However, people who are prone to depression are not affected by the fading effect.