-By Arihana Saikia
Is it “Rishtey mein to hum tumhare baap Lagte hain or Rishtey mein to hum tumhare baap hote hain ?”
Ever tried telling your mom that you locked the door and you distinctly remember doing it, recalling every little detail—only to later check the camera and realize you never did?
Could it be a glitch in the Matrix? Nah, that's too far-fetched. It’s just your mind playing tricks on you. HA! GOTCHA! Your brain is a master at filling in the blanks, making you feel so sure of things that never even happened.
What’s wild is this happens more often than you think. It’s not just a casual mistake—it’s the same trick of the brain that can lead to false memories and, in more serious cases, wrongful convictions. Our memories aren’t perfect recordings, they’re more like patchwork stories. Sometimes, the story we tell ourselves just... isn’t true.
So, what exactly are false memories? Essentially, they are either distorted recollections of events or memories of things that never actually happened. Despite being completely inaccurate, false memories can be vivid, and people may feel very confident in believing them, making it tough to convince them otherwise. These can arise due to misinformation, confusion, biased thinking, and suggestibility. The concept was first explored by Pierre Janet and Sigmund Freud, but it was Elizabeth Loftus and John Palmer who delved into how language can influence the creation of false memories.
For example, one of my friends was convinced I had a yellow notebook (even though I don’t own any notebooks). Here, we can see the "true effect" and "false effect" in action. The "true effect" suggests that when asked what color my notebook is, the listener becomes certain it exists, even though it's false. This mental trick convinces the listener that not only does the notebook exist, but it must be yellow. That’s the "false effect."
False memories can also be shared by multiple people, even though they never happened. For instance, after I mentioned my imaginary yellow notebook, three of my friends chimed in, claiming they had seen it earlier that day. This is similar to the Mandela Effect, a phenomenon where large groups of people remember something inaccurately. One famous example is Nelson Mandela’s death. Although he passed away in 2013, many people mistakenly recall him dying in the 1980s while in prison. Another example: does Pikachu’s tail have a black tip, or is it just yellow? Many people falsely remember the black mark!
Let’s revisit Loftus’s experiment. She told some of her participants stories about how they got lost in a mall as children, even though it never happened. Amazingly, many participants claimed to remember these events and even added extra details. This shows how easily misinformation can plant false memories in people’s minds.
Another way false memories are created is through biased thinking. For example, if someone already expects or believes a person to be guilty, their memory can warp to fit that belief. They might suddenly recall vivid details like the person crying or acting suspiciously, even if that never actually happened. This is linked to hindsight bias, where after an event, people convince themselves they "knew it all along." It’s that classic “I totally saw that coming” moment.
Another factor in false memories is source confusion—people can forget where they got a piece of information from. For instance, someone might think they witnessed a suspect committing a crime, but in reality, they only saw the person’s photo and confused it with real-life memory.
Suggestibility shapes not just how we remember events but also how we behave. Try this with a friend: remind them of that Sunday outing when you both supposedly saw a beautiful girl in a pink floral dress. Watch how they start filling in the blanks—maybe they’ll describe her eye color or hair, even though you both know you barely had enough cash for a proper outing that day (no offense!). But back to the point—misleading suggestions can really blur the lines between memory and imagination.
When suggestions are detailed enough to resemble real-life events, it becomes even easier for someone to mistake them for actual memories. The more closely the suggested details align with real experiences, the more likely people are to confuse them with their own memories. This can make false memories more vivid and convincing. The mix of real and suggested details makes the memory feel stronger and more believable.
But hey, if your friend starts adding suspiciously detailed descriptions about the girl in the pink dress, maybe he’s got his own story to tell. Might be time to do some detective work on that one!
Now, here's something more intriguing than figuring out if your friend is making up stories: human memory isn't fixed. It's not like a reliable recording of the past, but more like a constantly changing puzzle that can be influenced and altered. In high-stress environments—like police interrogations or even lie detector tests—memories can be easily distorted. Stress messes with cognitive functioning, making it harder for people to accurately recall events. Under pressure, individuals might begin to question their own memories. The fear of long questioning, the threat of punishment, or just wanting to escape the situation can make people more susceptible to suggestions from investigators.
In these intense situations, people may focus on getting immediate relief rather than thinking about the long-term consequences. This can lead them to confess to something they didn't even do. Long interrogations can also exhaust suspects, making it harder for their brains to analyze information critically, remember events clearly, or resist suggestive ideas. This kind of mental fatigue makes it much easier for them to "remember" things that never actually happened, and confess to crimes they didn’t commit.
Now, introducing false evidence to a suspect (just like that little experiment you did with your friend) is a commonly used police technique known as the Reid technique. For example, the Kerala police used this method in 2019 to solve a high-profile assault case involving an actress. Techniques like the Reid method work by isolating the suspect, building rapport, and presenting false evidence, all of which wear down resistance. Over time, this can lead to the creation of false memories, especially when interrogators repeatedly suggest that the suspect committed the crime or provide detailed, misleading information. As suspects become more confused or stressed, they may start doubting their own memories and eventually confess, even though they’re innocent.
False confessions resulting from false memories stem from a mix of interrogation pressure, suggestibility, memory distortion, and psychological vulnerability. The flexibility of human memory—especially under stress and the influence of misleading suggestions—means that people can actually believe they committed a crime they had no involvement in. Understanding the cognitive and psychological forces at play in these situations is critical in legal contexts to prevent wrongful convictions and improve interrogation techniques.
So, next time you’re about to argue that you didn’t finish the last slice of pizza, remember, under enough pressure, even you might start confessing. “Maybe I did rob that bank,” you’ll say, holding a greasy napkin, “and also, I took that pizza slice while I was at it.” Turns out, when your brain’s under stress, it’s basically that one friend who agrees to everything—even when it’s totally wrong.
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