Every memory you ever had is in some respects a hallucination. You can see a scene, feel a feeling, even smell a smell at a time and in a context in which they didn’t occur at all. That’s both good ...

Memory feels like a mental video archive, but psychologists have shown it behaves more like a creative editor, constantly rewriting the script. That is why people can be absolutely certain they ...

Ever wake up convinced something happened that actually didn’t? That vivid memory of a conversation with your friend, a movie you’re sure you watched, or an event that feels completely real but never ...

Memory shapes us. Our beliefs, thoughts, fears, rationalities – all are shaped by our past experiences in the form of memory. Memories anchor us to the past and help us make sense of the present.

During an event, details like what you saw, smelled, and felt aren't stored as a single memory. Rather, they are encoded and stored in your brain separately. To retrieve that memory, those pieces must ...

False memories cause real problems. A false identification sends an innocent person to prison. A false childhood memory can disrupt a family. But what if there are ways to reverse false memories? What ...

Citations: Bodenhausen, Galen. 2002. Creating Memory Illusions: Gist-based recognition and the generation of false memories. Memory. (1)63-80.