Case file
False Memory
- Filed under
- What Should We Remember
The charge
A false memory is a recollection of an event or detail that did not happen, or did not happen the way it is remembered. It can feel just as vivid and confident as a true memory.
How it operates
Memory is reconstructive, not a literal recording. Repeated imagination, suggestion, inference, and exposure to related details can become woven into a memory trace until the invented version feels real.
Logged incidents
- Incident 01
A leadership team becomes certain that a customer 'loved' a prototype even though the user actually gave mixed feedback.
- Incident 02
An interviewer later remembers a candidate making an arrogant remark that was never said, after discussing the candidate with others.
- Incident 03
A project sponsor recalls having approved a scope change informally, although no such approval occurred.
What to watch for
Confidence is not proof. Ask: "What independent evidence supports this memory besides my certainty about it?"
Recommended action
Use contemporaneous records, version histories, and written decision logs. Cognitive interview methods also reduce contamination by prompting recall before introducing any external details.
Known associates
- Misattribution of MemoryMisattribution happens when you remember information or an event but attach it to the wrong person, place,…
- Source ConfusionSource confusion is a memory error in which you correctly remember information but cannot accurately identify…
- CryptomnesiaCryptomnesia is when a forgotten memory returns but feels like a new original idea.
- SuggestibilitySuggestibility is the tendency for memory to be altered by leading questions, social cues, or post-event…
- Spacing EffectThe spacing effect is the finding that information is remembered better when study or exposure is spread out…
- Implicit StereotypeStereotypical bias is the tendency to remember, interpret, and judge people through broad category-based…
Source of record