Is False Memory a Long Term Memory Problem or Short Term Memory Problem - Essay Example

? Is false memory a long term memory problem or short term memory problem? The question is important because we it may help us figure out what is needed to enhance true memory.  What are the specific things the text discuss about false memory in court cases? From what I’ve deduced from various readings and research false memory can result due to long term or short term memory problems. The focus seems mainly to be in favor of long term memories that translate into false memories due to a number of theories that aim to explain why. The trace decay theory and the interference theory aim to explain the implications that result from trying to remember or recall memories; these implications being forgetting or distortion of memory which result in causing false memories in an individual. However when we look at the case by Loftus and Polage (1999) on eyewitness testimony we can see how shortly after viewing the video clips the participants answer’s to basic questions regarding what they had seen were inaccurate and false. This leads us to deduce that false memory problem can be a result of short term memory too. In court cases, mostly in 1983 to 1998, false memory in terms of claimed recovered memory of witnesses and victims had been readily accepted by the courts with convictions being solely on the reliability of these recovered memories. However it is clearer now that these alleged recovered memories have been tampered with mostly by therapists of these witnesses and can be hence be false in nature limiting their reliability in court. For example a woman accused Dr. Thompson, a memory expert, to have raped her. However the doctor was doing a live interview just before the woman’s rape occurred. It was later discovered during a counseling session the woman’s recollection of the event had become confused and she had simply seen the doctor on television before the assault had taken place; a recollection that had been a result of a false memory (Sachter, 1996). Therefore highlighting the huge role false memory plays in the recollections by witnesses which can lead to false or inaccurate convictions if relied on solely. References Loftus, F. & Polage, D. C. (1999). Eyewitness Testimony. Psychiatric clinics of North America. 22, 61-70. Schacter, D.L. (1996). Searching for Memory - the brain, the mind, and the past. New York: Basic Books. Read More