Like other functions of the human mind, perception and memory are
imperfect.When we tell a story about something that we witnessed, we
may intuitively believe that our recollection is accurate. However, several
factors bias our memories of events.To study this anomaly, let us look at
the three steps of memory creation: acquisition of memory, storing of
memory, and retrieval. At every stage of memory formation, distortion can
occur. At the first stage, acquisition of memory, events are perceived and
bits of information are prepared for storage in the brain. However, it is
impossible for us to remember every single thing we observe.Through
processes that are both conscious and unconscious, people determine
which details they will focus on.
Memory
In its second stage, storage, memories can become further distorted.
Over time, our memories degrade, as we forget portions of events. To
compensate, we may even creatively fill in the gap created by the
recession of long-term memory. Additionally, an individual’s memory can
be altered during the storage stage by intervening occurrences,which can
be subconsciously combined with previously stored
memories. Last but not least,we search our memory to locate
information. During recall, emotion also seems to play a part
in memory distortion. In sum, our memories may not be the
indisputable source of information that we would like them
to be.