Think of a vivid childhood memory. Do you remember all of the details? What if I told you it might not have happened that way or maybe didn’t even happen at all? But no, that’s not possible. You’re sure you remember it, right? What you’re experiencing is a false memory, and it is very common. In general, as humans, our memories are bad. It’s hard to know if you remember all of the details of last week correctly, let alone years of memories. Our false memories can cause many social problems if we are not aware of them. It also can lead to being easily manipulated and even issues in the criminal justice system.

So what is a false memory? The American Psychological Association defines it as a distorted recollection of an event or, most severely, a recollection of an event that never actually happened. This can be many things from events that never occurred or incorrectly remembering the details of an event. There are several reasons false memories occur but the most common reasons are due to new information that alters the memory or misattribution of the source of where the memory came from. Other causes could be sleep deprivation, personality traits, and mental health disorders.

False memories can also be created through manipulation. Gaslighting is a popular term in modern pop culture and that is one way a false memory can be created. To test this there have been experiments on implanting false memories that prove the theory that it is possible to implant a false memory. This is one of the negatives of false memories as it leaves us susceptible to manipulation.

On the stand at a criminal case is not an uncommon place to see someone have a false memory. Many eyewitnesses in legal cases remember events they witnessed incorrectly,  a phenomenon known as False Memory Syndrome (FMS). FMS has been researched and experimented with in recent years and results have shown that our memories are unreliable even in the most memorable moments like witnessing a crime. This research has led to eyewitness testimony evidence being weaker in court cases whereas in the past they could be the sole evidence to convict someone.

So next time you are in a situation where you are relying on your memory, or arguing with a friend over how something happened, think about the details that you remember and be aware that you might be victim to a false memory.