A team of researchers wanted to know how much people were able to trust their memories, made up of authentic but also generic information, created by the brain to fill the “gaps” in memory.
- Memories are a mixture of well-known “recalled” details, recalled with precision, and so-called “prototype” information, that is to say general knowledge which fills in the gaps in memory.
- A new study finds that people are quite capable of distinguishing between the two types of memory, recognizing generic, “prototypical” memories. We are clearly aware of when we are accurately remembering events and when our brains are filling in the gaps with general knowledge.
- These findings could have “implications for eyewitness testimony in legal cases, where confidence in the accuracy of recollection is essential.”
Can we really trust our memories? They are a mixture of details that are well and truly “recalled”, recalled with precision, and so-called “prototype” information, that is to say general knowledge that fills in the gaps in memory. “We rely on our memories especially when it’s a one-off event, like a birthday dinner. But events that happen regularly, like our commute to work, are rationalized by the brain to retain only the unique elements—some roadwork, perhaps, or a near miss. The rest of the details are generated from preexisting knowledge.”explains Dr Ben Griffiths.
He and his research team at the University of Birmingham in the UK wanted to know whether we were able to distinguish between the two types of memory, to recognise generic, “prototypical” memories. In other words, to what extent we could trust our memories.
Tests to assess the level of confidence in our memories
As part of their work, published in the journal Communications Psychologythe scientists recruited more than 200 participants aged 18 to 35 for a series of experiments. Participants were first asked to look at objects of different “non-matching” colours (a blue apple, for example) and then, after completing a math exercise meant to distract them, they were asked to recall the exact colour and recognise it on a colour chart. The aim was to assess how accurately the volunteers were able to recall the shade of colour, and how confident they were in the correctness of their answer (“certain”, “unsure”, “guessed”).
The researchers then used a machine learning algorithm to identify certain patterns in the responses, and so “to identify the ‘prototypical’ shades that people tended to choose when they were unsure of their accurate memory of the color,” can we read in a communicated.
We know how to distinguish between the two types of memories
As a result, it appeared that participants’ confidence in their color choices tended to decrease when the colors were closer to the shades identified as prototypical by the algorithm. “This suggests that we are aware that prototypes fill in the gaps in our memories, and that we can take this into account when asked to assess the accuracy of our memory.”the research team says. In short, we are well aware of when we remember events accurately and when our brains fill in the gaps with general knowledge.
“Our study suggests that people are actually quite good at knowing when their memories are reliable and when they are influenced by generic information.”according to the authors, who specify that these results could have “implications for eyewitness testimony in legal cases, where confidence in the accuracy of recollection is essential.”