Despite often feeling vivid and accurate, autobiographical memories for life events are not infallible and can be subject to errors, distortions, and inaccuracies.

Inaccuracy of Autobiographical Memory

We often construct memories to reaffirm our self-image or perception of our current situation. This also leads us to recall memories that confirm our self-image/circumstances more often. 

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Memories are a reconstructive process, meaning they are not some recordings of past experiences, but a recreation influenced by the present. They comprised of what happened in events and prior knowledge, expectations, and experiences. This contrasts with what some may think about memories being solely representations of events.

Constructive Nature of Memory

Confirmation bias is the cognitive tendency to selectively focus on cases that validate our pre-existing intuitive beliefs while actively disregarding or forgetting cases that disconfirm them. This mental shortcut leads individuals to reinforce incorrect assumptions by ignoring contradictory evidence.

Confirmation Bias

Aronson, Elliot, and Joshua Aronson. The Social Animal. Worth Publishers, Macmillan Learning, 2018.

The Social Animal

Remembering is not simply reproduction, but construction. Frederic Bartlett proposed that during our experiences, we gain structures of knowledge called “schemas,” which we use to reconstruct and infer when retrieving memories. Research has shown that when schemas are activated, people can make more inferences in reconstruction of memories.

The Inferential Process in Memory

Similar to repeated recall, respondents are asked to remember a story different lengths after reading/hearing it.

Repeated reproduction

Autobiographical Memory

Our behavior is largely due to factors out of our control and awareness (such as heuristics). However, when we are asked to explain our behaviors, we readily provide reasoning for it while reconstructing the event. It often stems from wanting to look good to ourselves and to others.

Self-justification

A type of confirmation bias. The tendency for people to evaluate evidence non-objectively and test their hypotheses based on their personal opinions and attitudes. 

Myside bias

Similar to confirmation bias, in which people accept the information that matches their views and reject that which does not. Is distinguished by the fact that this describes people who are deliberately trying to prove their point.

Motivated confirmation bias

Which of the following scenarios best illustrates confirmation bias?

Which of the following behaviors is an example of confirmation bias?

Which of the following statements best describes confirmation bias?

Which of the following actions is an example of confirmation bias?

An illustration of confirmation bias is when a person who believes their professor is unpleasant selectively notices and remembers instances of the professor's rude behavior, while simultaneously overlooking or forgetting the numerous positive interactions the professor has with others.

Professor's Behavior as an Example of Confirmation Bias

Confirmation bias serves to strengthen stereotypes by causing an individual to selectively process information. When interacting with a person from a stereotyped group, one tends to focus on behaviors that align with the stereotype while ignoring or dismissing actions that contradict it. This cognitive shortcut involves actively seeking out information that supports preconceived notions, thereby reinforcing the original stereotype.

Confirmation Bias as a Reinforcer of Stereotypes

An example of confirmation bias is the widespread intuitive belief that women are more talkative than men. Once someone adopts this belief, they are likely to selectively notice and remember talkative women and silent men, while ignoring or quickly forgetting instances of silent women and talkative men.

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