False Memories EPQ

       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

   Having naturally come to the next stage of my EPQ project, planning my dissertation, I have ironically gained a real feeling of rosy retrospective for the early stages of my project. I had such vague ideas and have explored every branch of my sprawling path of learning about false memories within psychology.     One major personal development that has come out of doing the EPQ is my decision to study neuroscience along with psychology at university. The studies into false memories that I have researched focus mainly on cognitive and neuropsychological aspects of the subject. Reading research which harnesses aspects of neuroscience in a physical way with brain scans as well as by incorporating brain theories has opened my eyes to my preference towards this more biological and cognitive approach to psychology.     Alongside writing my dissertation, I plan to read two novels to get some wider reading and knowledge into psychology and neuroscience: The Human Mind and How to Make the Mos