Many people have the wrong idea about ways to increase memory
Human experience is a wonderfully subjective thing that is constantly shifting and changing in the way people perceive it. This is equally true of memory. However, a large percentage of Americans believe that memory is a truly objective and reliable thing, despite mountains of research to the contrary. These mistaken beliefs may interfere with efforts to increase memory retention.
A team of researchers from Union College surveyed more than 1,500 adults from across the U.S. about what they believe when it comes to memory. The results showed that nearly 66 percent said memory was similar to a camera, taking accurate pictures of objective events.
Furthermore, nearly half of respondents said that once they develop a memory, that idea is unlikely to change at any point.
These beliefs are, of course, contrary to a significant amount of scientific evidence. Study after study has shown that memories are plastic and can change over time and in relation to new events. Furthermore, people tend to see more what they want to see rather than any type of objective reality.
"The fallibility of memory is well established in the scientific literature, but mistaken intuitions about memory persist," said Christopher Chabris, who contributed to the survey. "The extent of these misbeliefs helps explain why so many people assume that politicians who may simply be remembering things wrong must be deliberately lying."
The findings may also explain why people have such a difficult time finding ways to increase memory. It may be that they are actually shooting for an objective type of memory that is simply unattainable. Instead, focusing on more practical ways to increase memory may yield better results.
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