False Memories EPQ

 

  The Human Mind: and how to make the most of it       This  novel, written by Robert Winston and first published in 2003, has to be mentioned as a part of my EPQ. It was an ongoing side project which I used to further my knowledge of neuroscience. The discipline of neuroscience is greatly involved with the studies of memory and more specifically false memories yet I began my EPQ with an extremely limited understanding of the topic since I'd never studied the science before within school. Though this isn't directly linked to my topic, I thought it was an important objective to have a better basis understanding of neuroscience as otherwise, I would be trying to discuss a topic within this subject without having any foundations to build upon.         I have just finished the novel and am currently almost concluding my dissertation. I can definitely see an improvement in my vocabulary throughout due to my reading of this book as it has introduced a great deal of specialist lexicon

How much have I stuck to my plan? Green- Completed in the planned time frame. Yellow- Started but didn't finish. Red- Didn't complete. Added task since time line was made July: Complete final pieces of main research with a focus on the repercussions of false memories on society and people’s lives. Ensure my source evaluation is up to date. Look over PPR to finish and update it. (Realised I couldn't finish it as some needs to be done at the end of the project) End of month review of project. (Didn't feel necessary) August: Research how to structure a dissertation. Plan the structure of each section of my dissertation. Write abstract and introduction paragraph. End of month review of project. (Didn't feel necessary) September: Write a first draft of the main body of my dissertation (don’t edit what is written too much). End of month review of project. (Was too ambitious as I have had mocks and other things to focus on outside of EPQ. Though, I don't think this wil

   After exploring Loftus and Palmer's study on leading questions producing false memories in relation to eyewitness testimonies, I wanted to find some other explorations of the idea. This greatly feeds into how false memories corrupt the bigger picture of the world round us as the judicial system is greatly affected if the conclusion is made that eyewitness testimonies are unreliable.      Eyewitness testimonies refer to what happens when a person witnesses a crime, accident, or any other event that has legal implications. The witness may be interviewed by a number of police and lawyers and the process is more complex than one presumes. They are often very compelling and can, if done correctly, be incredibly influential on the process of a trial. The source I read even claimed that studies have been done which show that over decades, eyewitness testimonies are one of the most influential forms of evidence presented in court. Here's what I learnt from this source about the unre

       Here is my first plan for my dissertation. I understand that some of the things I have planned to discuss may be cut out in the final edit (there is a lot of information to unpack) which I am fine with since I have gone into quite a lot of detail when logging my research on my blog. This means nothing has been wasted- even if pieces of research don’t make it into the dissertation, they’ve furthered my understanding of false memories so will mean I can write with more accuracy.     Before uploading this plan onto my blog, I got some advice from my tutor on how to ensure I go about my dissertation in the right way. Most importantly, I took from this advice to not waste my words- don’t become too descriptive and don’t simply walk through everything I’ve done in the project. I needed this as I am very inclined to being ‘waffley’ when writing. I need to take a reflective tone and really show how everything I’m writing is vital in answering my title. 

    Do You Know Yourself is an episode on the YouTube docuseries Mind Field, produced by Michael Stevens (VSauce on YouTube). In the 25 minute episode, a series of experiments are conducted to demonstrate how suggestible our memory is to false ideas and memories.    The first of such experiments was a manipulated reproduction of the lost in the mall technique in which subjects were presented with false memories of childhood experiences among real ones. This was presented particularly well in the show as it shows that while such specific false memories cannot always be implanted, it does work in some cases- a smaller scale, matching set of results to the original study. It plays homage to Coan‘s original idea and Loftus and Pickrell‘s formal study in a way to engage with younger audiences to educate in a more accessible way than a research article.     The second is, personally, the more interesting study which looks into ’Choice Blindness‘ which is the phenomenon in which people can b