Essay On False Memory

False memories involve remembering events that never happened, or remembering them differently from the way they actually happened. Human feeling and memory are influence by a variety of subjective life experience, including moods and emotions. The use of feelings to trigger a memory follow the same principles as the use of any other information. Feelings tell us about the nature of our current situations and thought processes aid in navigating situational requirements.
Affect can sometimes enhance and sometimes impair performance and memory (Gray, 2001; Gray,Braver, & Raichle, 2002; Packard, Cahill, & McGaugh, 1994). For instance, although extreme emotional stress can impair memory (Packard et al., 1994; see also McIntyre, Power, Roozendaal, & McGaugh, 2003), McGaugh and his colleagues (Packard et al., 1994; McIntyre et al., 2003) have shown that moderate emotional stress improves learning how to navigate a maze using place cues. Researchers have used the
Roediger and McDermott (1995) replicated research by James Deese’s (1959) by using the six lists from Deese's study that were the most successful in producing false recall. Roediger read the lists of 12 words to a class of students, and after each list asked them to recall as many words as possible from that list. Following the recall of the sixth list the students were given a pen-and-paper recognition memory test: a list of words comprising 12 studied and 30 nonstudied items (including the critical lures) on which the students rated how confident they were that each word had appeared on one of the previous lists. The results showed that students recalled the critical lure 40% of the time, and that most were confident that the critical lures had actually appeared on the lists (Roediger & McDermott,