Are Our Memories Always Accurate Essay

Explain and evaluate what research has taught us about why our memories are not always accurate.

Memory is believed to be an active process which selects information to encode and store ready for retrieval if needed. From encoding through to retrieval memories can be constructed and reconstructed, showing why memories are not always accurate. This essay will aim to explore and evaluate the research of memory. It will aim to provide evidence to support the theory that our memories are not always accurate, and to offset this with evidence to support otherwise. There will be key areas of research that it will explore, starting with the construction of memories and how they can be processed through our internal ‘computer system’ of encoding,
Experiences of important past events can be shared between people to create memories, even if as an individual you don’t remember that particular event happening (Brace et al., 2007, p.142). Collective memories in families are used to express an identity or tradition and pass this on through generations (Miller, 2000. as cited in Brace & Roth, 2007) so that family history and reputation is maintained. Collective family memories are made up of stories that have been elaborated and changed through time with information added or left out to create, at times, a less than accurate memory of events. Gergen (1999, as cited in Brace & Roth, 2007) also supports the theory that collective memories are not always accurate as they can be formed to help construct and reconstruct history (Brace & Roth, 2007, p.143). Evidence of this comes from South Africa in the late twentieth century when a committee was set up to make the public aware of the happenings during the apartheid and reconstruct a collective memory in order to shape a better future for the country (Nuttall & Coetzee, 1998. As cited in Brace & Roth, 2007). It is fair to say that collective memories as a whole are not always