False memory

A recollection that differs from what actually happened or concerns an event that did not occur. False memories can feel vivid and sincere despite their inaccuracy.

Reconstructive memory: The process of rebuilding a remembered event from stored information, expectations, and cues rather than replaying an exact record. False memories can emerge when reconstruction fills gaps with details that were never experienced.
Lost in the mall technique: A procedure that uses a fabricated childhood event to study whether people can develop apparent autobiographical memories. It became a prominent test of suggestion-induced memories of events that never occurred.
Eyewitness misidentification: An incorrect identification of a person as having committed a witnessed crime. Memory distortion and suggestive procedures can contribute to wrongful identifications.
Source amnesia: Remembering information while forgetting where, when, or how it was learned. It can explain a false memory’s origin without implying that the remembered content itself is invented.
Misinformation effect: A memory distortion in which information encountered after an event changes reports of that event. It demonstrates how later wording or descriptions can become incorporated into recollection.
Elizabeth Loftus: An American psychologist known for research on memory, eyewitness testimony, and the effects of suggestion. Her experiments helped establish that post-event information can alter recollections.
Suggestive questioning: Questioning that implies an answer or introduces information that can influence a respondent’s report. Leading questions can alter later accounts of an event rather than merely measure them.
Confabulation: The production of false or distorted memories, often without intent to deceive and sometimes associated with neurological conditions. Confabulation can involve broader gaps in memory and reality monitoring than ordinary experimental false memories.
Source-monitoring error: A failure to identify where a memory, thought, or belief originated. A suggested detail may be remembered but misattributed to the original experience.
Remember/Know paradigm: A method for distinguishing recollection of contextual details from a sense of familiarity. It helps examine whether false recognition carries a feeling of reliving or only familiarity.

Linked from 21 pages