The production of spontaneous false memories across childhood

The Formation of Spontaneous False Memories in Childhood

The formation of spontaneous false memories throughout childhood is a journal published by the five authors listed. Otgaar, Peters, and Smeets work at Maastricht University’s Department of Psychology and Neuroscience. Moritz is a lecturer at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at University Medical Center Hamburg in Germany, whereas Howe is from the United Kingdom and lectures in the Department of Psychology at City University London. According to the authors, misleading memory illusions are created when underlying leitmotifs of scenes are clearly identified. The thesis of the article is that children are more prone to creating memory illusions than adults when important scenes are to be remembered. To address the thesis statement, the authors carried out experiments involving both children and adults. The study carried by the authors evaluate stimulation of spontaneous memory illusions in both children and adults. Besides, the study seeks to establish whether the developed memory illusions is reversible or not and under which circumstances. Additionally, the authors examine the effects associated with the reversal of induced memory illusions to an individual. The authors found out that the elimination of typical development patterns of spontaneous false memories in children can be done by the use of stimuli with distinct themes. Such stimuli include visual scenes and sections of a novel with dominant themes.

Understanding the Experimental Study

The article is easily understood since it involves memory experiments with prominent themes to measure the idea of developing memory illusions in both children and adults. Such experiments include novel stimuli, visual scenes, as well as story contexts which portrayed different scenes. The authors stated what they wanted to establish in their experimental study, and was about the development of memory illusions trends in both children and adults. Besides, the authors sought to understand the age group that was more prone to developing memory illusions. Various methods and stimuli were used during the experiment to obtain the required response and information concerning the participants. Story contexts were narrated and samples containing embedded scenes distributed to the participants. Visual scenes were provided to the participants to assist them to create memories and provide a response. Novels were given to the participants to read through stated sections and provide a response of how they understood the context in the read parts. Also, the participants were to discuss the various themes depicted in the novel sections they read through.

Personal Thoughts and Implications

To my understanding, the study was carried out, and necessary experiments were carried out to obtain the required information. What could have been included in the experiment was a provision of impromptu responses for oral questions on recent political, social, and economic issues around the globe. I liked the manner in which the authors used different stimuli during the various experiments to induce memory illusions. Development of memory illusions cannot be triggered by a single stimulus since people do not respond in an exactly same way. The findings brought out by the authors concerning the development of memory illusion trends are fascinating. I like the idea that the study does not discriminate particular age group, but used both adults and children irrespective of their age. The other research idea that could be deduced from the study is the rate at which an individual of a certain age can remember memories. The other idea that could be added to the study is the implications of induced false memories on normal development patterns in both adults and children.

Work Cited

Otgaar, H., Howe, M.L., Peters, M., Smeets, T., and Moritz, S. “The production of spontaneous false memories across childhood.” Journal of experimental child psychology 121 (2014): 28-41.