The 7 Sins Of Memory According To Daniel Schacter

Have you ever heard of this concept?

Daniel Schacter is a memory researcher, cognitive psychologist and professor of psychology at Harvard University. His research shows us that our memory tends to make seven faults which, by their functioning, are found in all human beings. These seven errors are called the seven sins of memory.

Schacter explains that research has found that the process of remembering and retrieving memory is a constructive activity. He also points out that the human memory system is not perfect. The latter has indeed impairments and we are all affected by these memory failures in our daily life.

In his book The Seven Sins of Memory, Schacter systematically classifies several memory distortions into seven basic categories. According to him, these seven categories of memory distortion are: transience, absence, blockage, misunderstanding, suggestibility, bias and persistence.

However, Schacter says that “these memory distortions should not be seen as flaws in the creation of the system; they can be conceptualized as by-products of desirable characteristics of human memory ”.

He thus points out that there is evidence that memory satisfies the needs of the present and that the past is reshaped with current knowledge, beliefs and emotions. Errors in memory are as fascinating as they are important, according to Schacter. These sins of memory occur frequently in everyday life and are not, in and of themselves, a sign of pathology. The problem is that the consequences that usually derive from this memory sin are unwanted.

The seven sins of memory

Daniel Schacter asserts that memory malfunction can be broken down into seven fundamental transgressions or sins. On the one hand, we find the sins of omission, which are the result of a failure to remember an idea, a fact or an event (retrieving the memory). These are transience or transience (loss of retention over time), lack of attention or mental distension (attention problems that lead to memory loss) and blockage (inability to retrieve information that is available in memory).

On the other side, we have the sins of delegation, which involve different types of distortions. These are cases where the memory is recovered but there is a problem with this memory, either because it was badly codified or because it was subsequently modified without us. realize.

In this category, we find absence, suggestibility (memories that come from suggestions or misleading information) and bias (biased effects of current knowledge, beliefs and feelings in memory).

Schacter offers a final sin, persistence, which relates to intrusive or unwanted memories that we cannot forget.

Fleeting or transient

Transience or transience refers to the weakening, deterioration or loss of memory over time. In other words, the deterioration of memories over time. In fact, recent events can be remembered much better than those which are more distant in time. It is a basic characteristic of memory, which is responsible for a lot of memory problems.

The transient character is caused by interference. There are two types of interference: proactive interference, where old information inhibits the ability to remember new information; and feedback interference, where new information inhibits the ability to remember old information.

Lack of attention or mental distension

Mental distension or lack of attention involves a breakdown in the interface between attention and memory. It assumes a problem at the point where attention and memory interact.

Memory errors caused by inattention (losing keys or forgetting a date, for example) often occur when we are preoccupied with things that distract us. We don’t focus on what we need to remember. At the time of codification, we do not pay enough attention to what we should remember later.

Blocking

Blocking involves a frustrated search for information that we are desperately trying to retrieve. It occurs when the brain tries to retrieve or code information. However, at this moment, another memory interferes with him.

This frustrating experience takes place even if we are attentive to the task in question and even if the memory we want to evoke has not evaporated. In fact, we realize it when we miraculously recover the blocked memory after hours or days.

Misunderstanding

The sin of mistake involves assigning a memory to the wrong source. It therefore assumes the correct retrieval of information with the incorrect memory of this source of information.

Misunderstanding occurs when people regard something they have already seen as something new. For them, however, these two elements are similar on a perceptual and conceptual level.

It is important to take into account that misunderstanding is much more common than you might think. It has particularly important legal implications.

Suggestibility

Suggestibility is like misunderstanding, but it includes open suggestion. The sin of suggestibility refers to the memories that take hold as a result of important questions, comments, or suggestions when a person tries to recall a past experience.

In other words, suggestibility is the incorporation of erroneous information into memory, due to important questions or deception.

Bias

Bias are retrospective distortions produced by current knowledge and beliefs. This sin is similar to that of suggestibility; feelings and current world view skew the memory of past events.

Thus, sin of bias reflects our ability to significantly alter our memories without realizing it. We often completely edit or rewrite our past experiences without realizing what we are doing. Based on what we know or believe at the moment.

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

Persistence

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

In other words, persistence refers to unwanted memories that people cannot forget. These may be memories associated with post-traumatic stress disorder. The sin of persistence therefore involves the repeated recollection of disturbing information that we would like to forget.

Final comments

Even though the sins of memory often seem like our enemies, they are actually a logical consequence of the way our minds work. They are in fact linked to the characteristics of the memory which lead to its proper functioning.

Therefore, as Schacter asserts, sins are not just annoying things that we must minimize or avoid. We must consider them positively.

Thanks to it, we know more about how memory uses the past to inform the present. On how she preserves the elements of the present experience for future reference. Etc. And also on how it allows us to review our past at will. We could therefore consider these sins of memory as qualities, as parts of a bridge that allows us to link the spirit to the world.