The false memory test
A list of words is about to scroll by. Remember as many as you can. Then check the ones you saw.
The experiment starts as soon as the page has loaded (JavaScript is required).
Try the experiment: your result will appear here, next to what most people do.
What just happened (read it after the experiment)
What most people do: In the 1995 study, the missing word was “recognized” almost as often as the words actually read.
All the words on the list revolved around the same idea, without ever naming it. Yet many people “remember” reading that missing word.
This is the experiment of Deese, Roediger and McDermott (1995). Your memory doesn’t keep recordings: it holds on to the general meaning, then rebuilds the details by guessing them.
A false memory often comes with genuine certainty. That is why sincere eyewitnesses can be wrong.
More experiments
Sources
- Henry Roediger and Kathleen McDermott, “Creating false memories,” Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1995.