How reliable really is our memory?

Real life situation:

Kimberley Wade Experiment:

-  Study on false memories.

- Fictuous autobiographical events were suggested to participants to determine whether they believed them to be true or not.

- How can we be certain that our memory of something is true?

Knowledge Issues:

- If this test is true, how can we rely on memory?

- Knowledge is problematic because the way we remember things can be altered.

- Is memory a credible Way of Knowing?

- What sort of consequences does memory alteration have?

To what extent can our memory be altered or manipulated - does this make it a reliable way of knowing?

Other related questions:

- How is memory a Way of Knowing?

- What are some of the things that our memory affect?

- What advantages/disadvantages may we encounter with memory manipulation?

- Can we actually rely on memory?

- How could we know anything without memory?

Memory and the Ways of Knowing

- There are 8 different Ways of Knowing. 

- Memory is a form of knowledge that can be remembered and retrieved.

- "Memory Bank" vs. Memory as a Way of

Knowing

What are the three types of memory?

- Procedural memory

- Declarative memory: episodic/semantic

- Flashbulb memory

Issues with Memory

- Misinformation effect

 

- Emotional manipulation

 

- Motivated forgetting

 

There are however various issues with our memory because they have the possibility to be altered. These include:

Advantages & Disadvantages with Memory Manipulation

Advantages:

- May help people with mental disabilities;

- Can allow us to get a better perspective of something.

- Disadvantages:

- False memories can be induced for manipulation;

- Propaganda;

- Negative memories can be stored and could bring on stress.

In TOK...

- The change in emotion can affect our memories; an emotional event is usually more memorable; emotions from the past may affect your judgements today.

- Stress and anxiety reduce the ability to recall a memory; example of PTSD.

- Use of wording affects memory - language; certain words may affect how we remember an event or situation.

Conclusion & other real life situations

Incorrect eye-witness testimonies:

- Research shows that 75% of false convictions are caused by an inaccurate eyewitness statement.

- William Mills, was falsely identified for robbing a bank in Glasgow. He was sentenced to nine years based on police identification from CCTV images – which showed a man in sunglasses with a scarf over his mouth and chin. 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/aug/18/eyewitness-evidence-wrongful-conviction

Works cited:

- https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/false-memories

- https://www.wired.co.uk/article/false-memory-syndrome-false-confessions-memories

- http://www.msavilasclass.com/wok-memory.html

- https://thedoctorweighsin.com/the-neurobiology-of-memory-manipulation/

- http://sohowdoweknow.weebly.com/memory.html