False and Distorted Memories

Our memories shape how we think about the past, how we plan for the future, and how we think about ourselves. Yet our memories are also constantly being reinvented: we often remember our experiences differently from how they truly happened, and can even remember experiences that never happened at all. False and Distorted Memories provides an overview of recent and ongoing developments in the science of false memory. World-leading researchers unpick questions about flawed recollections, discussing issues as varied as the reliability of highly emotional memories, why we sometimes begin to remember fictional experiences that we have deliberately fabricated, and what happens when we stop believing our memories. Each chapter demonstrates how memory science has furthered our understanding of these important questions, by exploring theoretical ideas and psychological research methods that underpin their investigations. Edited by Robert Nash and James Ost, this volume offers an international and up-to-date perspective on false and distorted memories. The volume also draws attention to the broad range of real-life contexts in which such distortions might arise and their potential consequences. False and Distorted Memories illustrates the ease with which memory can be contaminated and the power of the resulting memory errors, providing an integral text for researchers and students interested in the psychology of memory.

Robert A. Nash is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Aston University, UK. James Ost is a Reader in Applied Cognitive Psychology at the University of Portsmouth, UK

1. Introduction- Robert Nash and James Ost 2. (Mis)remembering Negative Emotional Experiences- Jacinta Oulton and Melanie K. T. Takarangi 3. When Children are the Worst and Best Eyewitnesses- Henry Otgaar, Mark L. Howe, Nathalie Brackmann and Jianqin Wang 4. Photos and Memory- Kimberley A. Wade, Sophie J. Nightingale & Melissa F. Colloff 5. The Past is a Social Construction- Hartmut Blank, Eva Walther and Simon D. Isemann 6. Forced Fabrication and False Eyewitness Memories- Maria S. Zaragoza, Patrick Rich, Eric Rindal and Rachel DeFranco 7. Stories and Movies can Mislead- Elizabeth J. Marsh and Hillary G. Mullet 8. Cognitive Fluency and False Memories- Eryn J. Newman 9. Nonbelieved Memories- Alan Scoboria, Giuliana Mazzoni and Chantal Boucher 10. The Positive Side of Memory Illusions- Mark L. Howe, Emma Threadgold, Samantha Wilkinson, Sarah R. Garner and Linden J. Ball 11. False Memories Matter- Cara Laney and Elizabeth F. Loftus 12. Concluding Remarks- James Ost and Robert A. Nash