Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Eyewitness Memory01:22

Eyewitness Memory

143
Eyewitness memory refers to the recollection of events by someone who has directly witnessed them, often serving as critical evidence in legal settings. This type of memory is commonly used in criminal cases where a witness describes details like a suspect's appearance, clothing, or behavior during a crime. However, despite its perceived reliability, eyewitness memory is prone to significant errors.
One such error is memory distortion, which occurs because human memory does not function...
143
False Memories01:18

False Memories

125
False memories represent a cognitive distortion in which individuals recall events that did not happen, or remember them in an altered form. This phenomenon highlights the brain's constructive nature in processing and recalling memories, emphasizing that memory is not a perfect representation of past events but rather a dynamic reconstruction influenced by various factors.
One primary source of false memories is misattribution, where individuals incorrectly associate external information...
125
Traumatic Memory01:20

Traumatic Memory

144
Emotionally traumatic events often lead to memories that are exceptionally vivid and enduring, sometimes persisting with remarkable clarity throughout an individual's life. A classic example of this phenomenon is a person who survives a car accident. Even years later, they may recall every detail of the event with startling accuracy — the screeching of the tires, the jarring impact, and the acrid smell of burning rubber. Such vividness contrasts sharply with how an individual...
144
Interference and Decay01:16

Interference and Decay

182
Forgetting is a complex cognitive phenomenon influenced by several factors, among which interference and decay are particularly prominent. These processes explain why individuals often struggle to retrieve specific information from memory, leading to lapses in recall that can be observed in everyday situations.
Interference occurs when competing memories hinder the retrieval of particular information. It can be classified into two types: proactive and retroactive interference. Proactive...
182
Forgetting01:21

Forgetting

106
Forgetting is an intrinsic aspect of human memory, characterized by the gradual loss or inaccessibility of information over time. Hermann Ebbinghaus, a pioneering psychologist, extensively studied this phenomenon and formulated the forgetting curve. This curve illustrates that memory loss occurs rapidly immediately after learning and then decelerates over time. Several mechanisms contribute to forgetting, including encoding failure, storage decay, retrieval failure, and interference.
Encoding...
106
Sensory Memory01:14

Sensory Memory

267
Sensory memory captures information from the environment in its original form for a very brief duration, just long enough to be exposed to visual, auditory, and other senses. This type of memory is detailed and rich but quickly lost unless certain strategies are employed to transfer it into short-term or long-term memory. Sensory information is continuously bombarding the human brain, yet only a small fraction is absorbed, as most of it does not significantly impact daily life. For instance,...
267

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

A single perceptual comparison is sufficient, but not necessary, to induce lasting memory distortion.

Cognition·2026
Same author

Memory Reactivation Levels Remain Unaffected by Anticipated Interference.

Journal of cognitive neuroscience·2026
Same author

Attraction and repulsion in perception and working memory as complementary outcomes of learning.

Current opinion in neurobiology·2026
Same author

Episodic memory encoding fluctuates at a theta rhythm of 3-10 Hz.

Nature human behaviour·2026
Same author

De-escalation of axillary surgery and targeted axillary dissection following neoadjuvant chemotherapy: multicentre prospective regional audit.

BJS open·2026
Same author

Children's Darting (Not Diffuse) Attentional Spotlight Reduces Memory Selectivity for Relevant Content.

Developmental science·2026
Same journal

Executive function and social behavior: Causal evidence from loading working memory and inhibitory control.

Journal of experimental psychology. General·2026
Same journal

Correction to "Your research is public engagement: A case for more intentional science communication in research with human subjects" by Vaughn (2026).

Journal of experimental psychology. General·2026
Same journal

Correction to "Costs and benefits of acting extraverted: A randomized controlled trial" by Jacques-Hamilton et al. (2019).

Journal of experimental psychology. General·2026
Same journal

Conveying (discrete) emotionality with novel words.

Journal of experimental psychology. General·2026
Same journal

Physical actions shape moral choices: Environment-directed movements reduce cheating in young children.

Journal of experimental psychology. General·2026
Same journal

From chunks to schemas: Learning in the Hebb repetition paradigm.

Journal of experimental psychology. General·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 6, 2025

Using a Classroom-Based Deese Roediger McDermott Paradigm to Assess the Effects of Imagery on False Memories
08:53

Using a Classroom-Based Deese Roediger McDermott Paradigm to Assess the Effects of Imagery on False Memories

Published on: November 14, 2018

9.7K

Comparing visual memories to similar visual inputs risks lasting memory distortion.

Joseph M Saito1, Katherine Duncan1, Keisuke Fukuda1

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Toronto.

Journal of Experimental Psychology. General
|March 23, 2023
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Comparing visual information in working memory can distort memories. These memory distortions persist over time, potentially impacting real-world recall like eyewitness testimony.

More Related Videos

Eye Movement Monitoring of Memory
08:06

Eye Movement Monitoring of Memory

Published on: August 15, 2010

14.7K
Visualizing Visual Adaptation
04:43

Visualizing Visual Adaptation

Published on: April 24, 2017

9.0K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Aug 6, 2025

Using a Classroom-Based Deese Roediger McDermott Paradigm to Assess the Effects of Imagery on False Memories
08:53

Using a Classroom-Based Deese Roediger McDermott Paradigm to Assess the Effects of Imagery on False Memories

Published on: November 14, 2018

9.7K
Eye Movement Monitoring of Memory
08:06

Eye Movement Monitoring of Memory

Published on: August 15, 2010

14.7K
Visualizing Visual Adaptation
04:43

Visualizing Visual Adaptation

Published on: April 24, 2017

9.0K

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Memory Research

Background:

  • Visual working memory (VWM) is crucial for daily tasks.
  • Perceptual comparisons can lead to memory distortions.
  • These distortions may explain everyday memory unreliability.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the consequences of perceptual comparisons on VWM.
  • To determine if memory distortions persist after comparisons.
  • To assess the impact of memory retrieval timing on distortions.

Main Methods:

  • Two experiments were conducted with young adults.
  • Participants performed perceptual comparisons on objects in VWM.
  • VWM representations were either temporarily maintained or recalled from long-term memory.

Main Results:

  • Systematic memory distortions were observed after perceptual comparisons.
  • Distortion magnitude increased with the delay between encoding and comparison.
  • Distortions remained stable when memories were re-accessed a day later.

Conclusions:

  • Perceptual comparisons mechanistically contribute to memory distortions.
  • These findings have implications for memory accuracy in critical situations.
  • Memory distortions induced by comparisons can be long-lasting.