Hello Class,

For this discussion, I chose How reliable is your memory? by Elizabeth Loftus. This
discussion covers the speakers big idea, how that idea correlates to a subdivision of APA
(American Psychological Association) and ending with questions about the video.

Elizabeths big idea seemed to be how memories are not always accurate and how
misinformation can distort experience causing false memories (TED, 2013). The problem with
inaccurate memories may not be major in trivial day to day matters. However, when it comes to
accusing someone of a crime, the matter becomes of grave importance. Elizabeth talks about a
case of a man that was wrongfully identified as the person responsible of the rape of a hitchhiker.
The accuracy of memory compared to actual experience is not only a matter in court cases but
also an interest in consumer psychology.

Psychologist Daniel Kahneman, Nobel Prize winner and one of the founders of behavioral
economics, points out that the decisions we make are based on our memories, not our
experiences Kahneman, D. (2012, October 3). In his example, he talks about a man
experiencing a perfect dinner with great food and conversation but at the end of the dinner a cup
of hot coffee is spilt in his lap. He then remembers the entire evening as a negative consequence
that leads to never returning to that restaurant. The story shows how a painful experience can
overlay or reframe the entire context and influence the memory of the experiencer.

According to the American Psychological Association website, it seems that Elizabeths talk on
memory most closely relates to division six. This subdivision of APA focuses on behavior and
its relation to perception, learning, memory, cognition, motivation, and emotion (APA, 1).

After watching the video, memory is shown not to be a flawless recording device but instead
susceptible to errors and biases. Elizabeth presented many interesting points, however, the use of
the word memory seemed to be more of a nominalized term for whole organism evaluating and
communicating. In many cases, memory is associated with cognition but do we cognize or are
we subject to our personal history, past conditioning and the structure of language? Although
many questions arose before, during and after the video, the most important ones revolved
around how context, emotional state and authority effect memory and communication.

References

Kahneman, D. (2012, October 3). How Memories of Experience Influence Behavior. Retrieved
from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/inside-the-consumer-mind/201210/how-
memories-experience-influence-behavior
Divisions of APA. (2017). http://www.apa.org. Retrieved 3 September 2017, from
http://www.apa.org/about/division/div6.aspx
TED. (2013, March 1). Elizabeth Loftus: How reliable is memory? Retrieved from
https://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_loftus_the_fiction_of_memory?language=en