Most people think their memory is pretty accurate, faithfully recording what happened just like a video camera.
Not even close, says Dr. Elizabeth Loftus, who has devoted her life to studying memory.
"The truth is memory is malleable. We take information in, but over the course of other activities in life we can distort or transform, or alter that information and memory," she said.
It's a big part of why so many pictures line the walls of Roosevelt University's Gage Gallery. They are all people who were wrongfully convicted, and then exonerated, often because of someone's faulty memory.
"When it comes to somebody's freedom, very precise memory matters," Loftus said.
But Loftus said the most imprecise memories are of traumatic situations, shocking and frightening events are not the most easily remembered.
"Not the way things work. When it comes to a highly stressful event, the memory can be impaired," she said.
Loftus said memory is further muddied because humans want to feel good about themselves and their actions.
"We remember that we gave more to charity than we really did, or voted in elections we didn't, or our grades are better than they actually were," she said.
In one experiment, researchers persuaded people that their family members had described an incident in which they were lost in a shopping mall as a child. Although it never happened, a significant number of people soon started remembering details of an event that was non-existent.
"Through the power of suggestion, they can plant very rich, whole memories," Loftus said.
It's why Loftus has a practical prescription for those silly disagreements when you are sure the other person is remembering wrong.
"We should probably be more accepting when someone else has a memory that's different from ours. You don't have to call them a liar," she said.
Loftus said if you want to remember something accurately, sit down and write out everything you remember while it's still fresh before talking to anyone.
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