The 7 Sins Of Memory According To Daniel Schacter

The research of Daniel Schacter, a student of memory processes, cognitive psychologist and professor of psychology at Harvard University, argues that our memories are prone to fall into seven mistakes that, because of their functioning, are common to all of us. He called these seven errors the seven sins of memory.

Schacter explains that research shows that the process of recalling and retrieving memories is a building activity. He says that the human memory system is not perfect, it has its deficiencies and we are all subject to it, and we can be affected by these problems in our everyday life.

In his book ‘ The Seven Sins of Memory ‘, Schacter systematically classifies various distortions of memory into seven basic categories. According to him, these seven categories of memory distortion are: fugacity, erroneous attribution, blocking, bad attribution, suggestibility, prejudice and persistence.

However, Schacter says that “these memory distortions should not be seen as a flaw in the design of the system, but these suggestions can be conceptualized as by-products of desirable features of human memory.”

In this sense, Schacter emphasizes that there is evidence that memory satisfies the needs of the present and that the past is remodeled with current knowledge, beliefs and emotions. Memory errors are as fascinating as they are important, he said.

These memory sins occur frequently in our everyday life, and are not, by themselves, a sign of pathology. The problem is that the consequences that usually follow from this amnesic problem are not very desirable.

the 7 sins of memory

Daniel Schacter claims that memory malfunctions can be divided into seven fundamental transgressions and sins. On the one hand we have sins of omission, which are the result of a failure to recall an idea, a fact, or an event (memory recall).

They are fugacity or transience (loss of retention over time), lack of attention or mental distension (attention failures that give rise to a loss of memory) and blocking (inability to retrieve information that is available in memory).

On the other side are the sins of commission, which imply different types of distortion. That is, cases in which memory is recovered but there is a failure in that recall. It can happen because it was badly coded, or because it was modified later without our account data.

They are misattribution (attributing memory to an incorrect source), suggestibility (implanted memories resulting from misleading suggestions or information) and prejudice (distorting effects arising from the knowledge we already have, beliefs and feelings in memory).

Schacter also proposes a final sin, persistence, which is related to intrusive and undesirable memories that we cannot forget even if we want to.

Fugacity or Transience

Fugicity or transience refers to a weakening, deterioration or loss of memory over time. That is, memory gets weaker over time. In fact, we can remember much more recent events than those farther back in the past. This is a basic feature of memory, and it’s also to blame for many memory problems.

Transience is caused by interference. There are two types of interference: proactive interference, in which old information inhibits the ability to recall new information, and retroactive interference, in which new information inhibits the ability to recall old information.

Lack of attention or mental distension

Mental distension or lack of attention implies a rupture in the interface between memory and attention. It implies problems where attention and memory are related.

Memory errors from being distracted (losing keys or forgetting an invitation to lunch, for example) often happen because we are preoccupied with issues or concerns that distract us, and so we don’t focus our attention on what we need to focus on in order to memorize and remember.

In other words, at the moment of encoding, we don’t pay enough attention to what we should and, thus, memory is not formed.

Block

The blockage is related to an unsuccessful search for information that we may be desperately trying to retrieve. It occurs when the brain tries to retrieve or encode information, but another memory interferes with the process.

This frustrating experience occurs even though we are paying attention to the task at hand, and even though the memory we wish to evoke has not disappeared from our brain. In fact, we only realize this when we unexpectedly retrieve the locked memory hours or days later.

erroneous attribution

The sin of erroneous attribution involves assigning a memory to a wrong source. That is, it implies having a memory of correct information but with a small error related to the source of that information.

Misattribution or misrecognition can occur when people misrecognize an element they have previously encountered, such as a new element related to perception or some similar concept.

It’s important to keep in mind that misattribution is far more common than most people realize, and has potentially profound implications in the legal context.

Suggestibility

Suggestibility is something similar to misattribution, but with the inclusion of having an open suggestion. The sin of suggestibility refers to memories that can be implanted in our brain as a result of important questions, comments, or suggestions when a person is trying to remember some past experience.

That is, suggestibility is the incorporation of wrong information in memory due to important questions, lies or other causes.

prejudices

Prejudices are retrospective distortions produced by current knowledge and current beliefs. This sin is similar to suggestibility in terms of a person’s feelings and current view by distorting the memory of past events.

In this way, the sin of prejudice reflects our ability to significantly modify our memories without realizing it. We often edit and completely rewrite our past experiences without being aware of what we are doing because of what we know or believe at the moment.

The result can be a biased representation of a specific incident or even an extended period of our lives, which says more about how we feel now than about what happened in the moment.

Persistence

Persistence is a failure of the memory system that implies the recurrent retrieval of disturbing information that we wanted to ignore. Persistent memory can lead to the formation of phobias, post-traumatic stress disorders and even suicide in particularly disturbing or intrusive cases.

In other words, persistence refers to unwanted memories that people cannot forget, such as those that can be associated with post-traumatic stress. That is, the sin of persistence implies a repeated recall of disturbing information that we would like to forget.

final comments

Even though the sins of memory seem like our enemies, they are actually a logical consequence of how our minds work, as they are connected to features of memory that make it work well.

Therefore, as Schacter argues, memory sins are not nuisances that we should minimize or avoid, and should be considered from a positive point of view.

Thanks to all the research, we know more about how memory draws on the past to inform the present, how it preserves elements of present experience for future reference, and how it allows us to review the past at will. Therefore, we could also see these memory sins as virtues, as elements of a bridge that allows us to unite our minds with the world.