Jim's False Memory Analysis
parents came forward with news of winning the lottery. Jim found out that this recollection was false; however, there are many possible reasons for this incorrect memory. The first justification for Jim’s false memory could be decay/disuse theory; this is the idea that memory decreases due to elapsed time. Because this “recollection” of his parents winning the lottery was from some time ago, Jim’s memory of true events may have faded, therefore causing him to assume what he thought what happened was true. Perhaps some newer memories interfered with elements of the old memory. Jim knows this happened years ago, allowing more recent events to distort his ability to accurately recall his memory from long-term storage; this is another possible
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Also, he could have experienced cue-dependent forgetting. This can occur through context cues, those that deal with time and place, or by state cues. The possibility of insufficient state cues means that Jim may not have been in the same emotional/physical state during the recall as he was when he believes the lottery win actually happened. Inadequate cues prevented Jim’s ability to accurately retrieve the memory from long-term storage. Jim, who remembered this event from when he was very young, could have suffered from childhood/infantile amnesia, a phenomenon described as the lack of capability to retain any memories from before the age of three. Deceptive information may have been presented to Jim after the fact; known as the misinformation effect, some newer memories could have overlapped with his childhood memory, therefore blurring the recall. Could the interviewer have asked incoherent questions, such as the setting he was in when his parents broke the news, and then asked about what he ate for his birthday dinner a month ago? Such random inquiries can lead to inaccurate recall. Jim’s recollection, lastly, could have been embedded in his memory by someone else, such as his parents themselves; they want their son to believe in their ability to not only provide for the
Also, he could have experienced cue-dependent forgetting. This can occur through context cues, those that deal with time and place, or by state cues. The possibility of insufficient state cues means that Jim may not have been in the same emotional/physical state during the recall as he was when he believes the lottery win actually happened. Inadequate cues prevented Jim’s ability to accurately retrieve the memory from long-term storage. Jim, who remembered this event from when he was very young, could have suffered from childhood/infantile amnesia, a phenomenon described as the lack of capability to retain any memories from before the age of three. Deceptive information may have been presented to Jim after the fact; known as the misinformation effect, some newer memories could have overlapped with his childhood memory, therefore blurring the recall. Could the interviewer have asked incoherent questions, such as the setting he was in when his parents broke the news, and then asked about what he ate for his birthday dinner a month ago? Such random inquiries can lead to inaccurate recall. Jim’s recollection, lastly, could have been embedded in his memory by someone else, such as his parents themselves; they want their son to believe in their ability to not only provide for the