Thursday, December 8, 2016

Sort Out Fact From Fiction: A Lot Of People Believe Fake Facts

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Dr Kimberley Wade in the Department of Psychology and colleagues were the ones who conducted the study on false memories. If we are given a fictional event from our lives and we repeatedly imagine it, about half of us would most likely believe that it happened.

There were a total of 400 participants in the ‘memory implantation’ process. Findings show that around 50% actually believed that those events happened. These false events include taking a childhood hot air balloon ride, playing a prank on a teacher, or crashing a family wedding.

Half Of Participants Believe Fake Facts

30% of participants appeared to ‘remember’ the event—they accepted the suggested event, elaborated on how the event occurred, and even described images of what the event was like. Read more…

Science Daily says that 23% of the population exhibited signs that they accepted the memory and to some degree, believed that it happened. Dr. Wade and colleagues think that it can be challenging to distinguish if a person is remembering actual past events versus fake memories even in a controlled environment.

The results of these findings affect important fields such as forensic investigations, court rooms and therapy treatments. It raises questions about the authenticity of the memories.

Half Of Subjects Believe Fake Facts, ‘Remember’ Events That Never Happened

Moreover, the collective memories of a large group of people or society could be incorrect — due to misinformation in the news, for example — having a striking effect on people’s perceptions and behaviour. Read more…

Neuro Science News reports about Dr. Wade’s opinion about the importance of the study. She says that there are a lot of factors that affect the creation of these fictitious events.

However, the doctor says that they still have yet to understand how all these factors interact. The results of the study proved to be vital as it gives us an understanding why these fictitious memories can influence behaviour.

Half of People Believe Fake Facts

The finding that a large portion of people are prone to developing false beliefs is important. We know from other research that distorted beliefs can influence people’s behaviours, intentions and attitudes. Read more…

Though this is the case, their large scale study appears to move them closer to answers. Hopefully, they’ll be able to decipher the science behind these distorted beliefs and why memories can be influenced by these. 

The post Sort Out Fact From Fiction: A Lot Of People Believe Fake Facts appeared first on NUTRITION CLUB CANADA.



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