Based on the principles of how memory functions, what is the most likely psychological explanation for the significant changes in Alex's account of the car incident over time?

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A false memory is a recollection of an event, or details of an event, that did not actually occur. This phenomenon highlights that human memory is not a perfect, video-like recording of the past but is instead a reconstructive process capable of creating memories for things that never happened.

False Memories

A type of memory distortion in which an individual’s memory of an event becomes more aligned with another person’s reported memory of the event.


Memory conformity

The formation of false memories can be reduced if one is warned about the potential to form false memories before they learn information that may trigger a false memory. However, giving this warning after one learns information that may trigger false memories is ineffective at reducing the impact and formation of false memories.

False memory warning

A way to measure a participant's susceptibility to misinformation. 
- Phase 1: participant is exposed to a complex event.
- Phase 2: after exposure to the event, someone else comments on the event, usually presenting misinformation.
- Phase 3: participant is tested on their memory of the source of details (whether it came from the event itself or the second source).


Three-phase misinformation paradigm (Loftus et al., 1978)

Psychologist, Daniel Schacter, provides specifics about how fragile long-term memory can be, through the seven sins of memory, which provide seven ways our long term memory can fail us.  

The Seven Sins of Memory

Refers to the recall of false memories from one's own life. The recall often occurs during therapy sessions where adults seemingly recover memories of physical or sexual abuse from their childhood. However, the term is not an officially recognized diagnostic term. In addition, this condition is especially controversial in cases where there are no independent witnesses to the events, where typically only the victim and perpetrator are present.

False Memory Syndrome

The process of bringing up old memories is called memory reconstruction. When a memory is retrieved from long-term storage into short-term memory, it becomes flexible and susceptible to modification. During this process, old memories can be unintentionally combined with new events, which alters what a person believes they remember and can result in inaccuracies or distortions.

Memory Reconstruction

In a foundational 1974 study, Elizabeth Loftus and John Palmer explored how leading questions could influence memory. They presented films of car accidents to 45 college students and asked them to estimate the speed of the vehicles. The critical manipulation was the verb used in the question, 'About how fast were the cars going when they ___ each other?' The verb was varied with words like 'smashed,' 'collided,' 'bumped,' 'hit,' or 'contacted.' The results showed a clear correlation between the intensity of the verb and the speed estimate: 'smashed' yielded an average estimate of about 41 mph, 'collided' 39 mph, 'bumped' 37 mph, 'hit' 34 mph, and 'contacted' 32 mph. In a follow-up a week later, participants in the 'smashed' group were also more than twice as likely to falsely recall seeing broken glass, demonstrating that post-event information can distort memories and even create false ones.

Loftus and Palmer (1974) Car Crash Experiment

Leading questions, which are phrased to suggest a specific answer, can significantly distort memory. This influence can alter recollections of an event's details, such as making an accident seem more severe, and can also lead to the creation of entirely false memories for things that never occurred, as demonstrated in studies where participants recall seeing non-existent broken glass after hearing suggestive language.

Leading Questions and Memory Distortion

Research has demonstrated that the creation of false memories is not confined to altering minor details or words within an event. It is also possible for individuals to construct and vividly recall entire complex events that they never actually experienced, highlighting the extensive reconstructive capabilities of human memory.

Scope of False Memories: From Details to Whole Events

Analysis of a Witness's Evolving Memory

Research has demonstrated the occurrence of false memories among research participants. For instance, participants have confidently recalled hearing a specific word, even though they never heard the word (Roediger & McDermott, 2000).

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