Human Psychology 101: Understanding the Human Mind and What Makes People Tick

Perception and Memory
Memory is a fascinating animal. In a scientific sense, memories
are created in an area of the brain called the hippocampus, which
develops in early childhood into an instrument that can be used to
retrieve memories into adulthood. Since this part of the brain isn’t
fully developed at the time of birth, it is impossible for a person to
have a memory from their first year or two of life.
But that hasn’t kept some psychologists from trying to help
patients access memories from infancy. Through hypnosis or
suggestion, many people have found that they can “remember”
scenes from their infancy. Biologically, this is impossible. These are
called impossible memories. So are these people lying about their
memories?

---

Memory, it turns out, is easy to tarnish and difficult to verify. In
the 80s and 90s, several cases came to light about psychiatrists using
hypnosis to help patients remember vivid accounts of childhood
abuse and rape by parents, priests, or other people who were close to
them.
In one case, the patient believed that her mother held her down
while her father raped her many times between the ages of 7 and 14.
She remembered becoming pregnant twice and being forced to abort
the baby herself with a coat hanger. Her father was a clergyman, and
when these accusations came to light, he was forced to resign from
his post. When a doctor gave the young woman a medical
examination, it was discovered that she was a virgin who had never
been pregnant. The psychiatrist was taken to court and sued for $1
million.
This is a very extreme example, but it perfectly illustrates the
power of suggestion on memory. By merely suggesting something
and asking a person to imagine the scenario in a certain way, false
memories can be created and existing memories can be tampered
with.
False memories are created by combining real memories with
suggestions of the fake memories. As time elapses, the person is
likely to dissociate the source of the false information from the
information itself and come to believe in the validity of the new, false
information.
A more down to earth example of this is a car accident I was in
with two of my friends about ten years ago. I was driving home from
a party that night. I was the sober driver, and the others were a little
bit sloshed. I came to the last intersection before our apartment and

---

turned left at the stop sign. As I was turning, another vehicle ran the
stop sign on the opposite side of the intersection and t-boned my car
on the passenger side. None of us were hurt, fortunately, but talking
about the event years later, our memory of how the accident
happened has evolved. My one buddy suggested at one point that the
intersection had a stoplight, and we had a protected arrow when the
other car hit us. Both of them now stand by that version. I always
argue that it was actually a stop sign. I remind them both that they
were drunk. They inform me that they were practically sober at that
point. We continue to disagree. The one point on which we don’t
disagree on is that none of us remembers what happened to the other
driver after they hit us.
It just goes to show that just because we remember something
doesn’t mean that it happened. After all, I’ve woken up from vivid
dreams in which I’m making out with Megan Fox feeling that it must
have been real, and that is a false memory that I will cherish always.
Does this mean that memory is always untrustworthy? The
short answer is yes. There’s not yet any scientific way to prove
whether a memory is true or false unless quantitative evidence can
be gathered and examined to verify it. The longer answer is not
necessarily; a person’s testimony is still, after all, generally
considered to be credible in a court of law. While it must usually be
corroborated with physical evidence in order for a charge to stick,
human testimony is valued and sought after to win trials.
It also makes up the bedrock of a person’s character and helps
to determine how they behave and what kinds of decisions they make
for themselves. Most people don’t deliberately remember things the
wrong way. Survival depends on them remembering accurately

---

where the food is, how to protect themselves, how to get out of
speeding tickets, what happened last time they were cornered in an
alley alone at night, and what the password is to their online banking
system. Good memory is good survival in many cases. What is the
safest shortcut home at night? How did you purify your drinking
water the last time you went camping? What’s the greatest number of
beers you can have before you start puking?
Perception and Deliberate Alteration
People do drugs and drink alcohol in order to alter their
perceptions of reality. Even a dose of caffeine in the morning is
meant to alter perception by making one feel more alert and open to
new sensory experiences.
Perception, sensory and social, are important aspects of human
identity, and understanding this is key to figuring out how people
tick.

---