What You Should Know About False Memories: Experts explain

Have you ever been absolutely sure about a memory, only to have someone else remember it differently? 

Perhaps we all have alternate realities that overlap just enough to create a functioning world.

The truth is our perception of the world is highly imperfect, and our brains only remember a small piece of what we actually experience.  When we remember something, we have the potential to change the memory we are accessing. And sometimes, memories are completely made up, as Julia Shaw explains in Scientific American: we have recollections that feel real but are not based on actual experience.

Memory scientist Chris French from University of London, who has done decades of research on memories has 5 things he wants people to know:

• Memory does not work like a video camera, accurately recording all of the details of witnessed events. Instead, memory (like perception) is a constructive process. We typically remember the gist of an event rather than the exact details.
• When we construct a memory, errors can occur. We will typically fill in gaps in our memories with what we think we must have experienced, not necessarily what we actually did experience. We may also include misinformation we encountered after the event. We will not even be consciously aware that this has happened.
• We not only distort memories for events that we have witnessed, we may have completely false memories for events that never occurred at all. Such false memories are particularly likely to arise in certain contexts.
• There is no convincing evidence to support the existence of the concept of repression, despite it being a widely accepted concept. 
• There is currently no way to distinguish, in the absence of independent evidence, whether a particular memory is true or false. Even memories which are detailed and vivid and held with 100% conviction can be completely false.

In the business world, false memories can be expensive.  A customer service agent who has a completely different story to a customer—may or may not be right.  A technician who remembers “the way they did it last time” could be 100% correct, or only 50%.  And the sales rep who thinks they remember all the customer’s requirements from the phone call, may only be remembering a small portion of them. 

Luckily these days, most of us have smartphones that allow us to take pictures and videos with ease—so that we don’t have to remember things perfectly. Plus, savvy enterprises have call recording on their business phone system so that sales and customer service reps can be monitored.  And digital communication, either through chat, text or email provides a record that no one would claim their memory can beat.

So before you tell your boss you are SURE about an event, or tell your wife that you are positive she didn’t remind you to do something: remember (if you can), you genuinely may have it wrong.

On that scary note: Call recording from VTSL can be activated for as little as £2 per user!

About VTSL

VTSL is a VoIP provider specialising in hosted office phone systems and unified communications.  As a leading VoIP provider, and one of the first to market with a solution designed for SME’s in 2007, VTSL offers cost effective, easy-to-use cloud-based solutions—meaning your business phone system exists entirely in the cloud. No bulky on-site equipment! To find out if VTSL is the right VoIP provider for you, or if they can save you money on a new business phone system, call 020 7078 3200 today.