Misattribution of memory

Memory plays an important role in a number of aspects of our everyday lives and allows us to recall past experiences, navigate our environments, and learn new tasks. Information about a source of memory contains certain characteristics that reflect the conditions under which the memory representations were attained. The accuracy of their recall varies depending on the circumstances at which they are retrieved.Misattribution of memory refers to the ability to remember information correctly, but being wrong about the source of that information.

Misattribution is likely to occur when individuals are unable to monitor and control the influence of their attitudes, toward their judgments, at the time of retrieval. Thus, memory is adapted to retain information that is most likely to be needed in the environment in which it operates. Therefore, any misattribution observed is likely to be a reflection of current attitudes.

Misattribution is divided into three components: cryptomnesia, false memories, and source confusion. It was originally noted as one of Daniel Schacter's seven sins of memory. His book, The Seven Sins of Memory: How the Mind Forgets and Remembers, identifies misattribution as a type of memory distortion or inaccuracy. For example, people may assert that they saw a face in one context when they actually encountered it in another.

Cryptomnesia is a form of misattribution. It involves the unconscious influence of memory that causes current thoughts to be wrongfully attributed as novel. In other words, individuals mistakenly believe that they are the original generators of the thought. When cryptomnesia arises in literature or scholarly ideas it is often termed 'inadvertent plagiarism', inadvertent because the subject genuinely believes the idea to be their own creation. Inadvertent plagiarism takes two forms. The first involves the plagiarizer regenerating a previously seen idea, but believing the idea to be novel. In the second form, the plagiarizer recalls the ideas of other author's as their own.

For example, a person may falsely recall creating an idea, thought, or joke, not intentionally engaging in plagiarism, but nevertheless believing to be the original source of memory.

False memories occur when a person's identity and interpersonal relationships are strongly centered around a memory of an experience that did not actually take place. These false memories are often of a traumatic life experience and can become very detrimental to everyday life. False memories are often the result of leading questions in a therapeutic practice termed Recovered Memory Therapy. In this practice, psychiatrists often put their patients under hypnosis to recover repressed memories. This can be detrimental, as the individual may recall memories that never occurred. For example, there are instances of reported cases in which individuals falsely recall sexual abuse and pursue justice. These cases are extremely painful to both the accuser and to the accused, and may result in wrongful conviction. Due to incidents like these, false memories and repressed memories have lost most of their validity and reliability in a court of law.

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