’Do You Know Yourself?‘ - Review.

   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 be so easily convinced that they made a choice that they never made and will even support and defend said choice. I had never previously heard of this psychological theory so seeing how convincing the results are was very engaging and informative. 

‘This isn‘t just simple misremembering, this is fabricating a past that never happened‘ 

   Overall, this miniature documentary was incredibly well researched and very effectively pulled off experiments in a professional manner. Though it doesn’t overtly explain the ethics and methodology outside of just showing the experiment, you can tell they followed guidelines and used psychological techniques in an ethical way, such as deception of the true aim, in order to get valid results.  

   The theory of choice blindness is new to me and is a fascinating idea as it demonstrates how the brain reconstructs memory falsely to fit a narrative presented to it by somebody saying that you made a certain choice. It almost presents it as a defence since we can argue these choices we never made so easily in order to fit into those around us and what they suggest. It has potential links social psychology.