Japan says UFOs exist

[SorryImPsychic]

http://books.google.com/books?id=BggJjhbBJzwC&pg=PA99&lpg=PA99&dq=memory+changes+over+time+research+criminology&source=web&ots=3hzRMPKS1n&sig=68DTJdEw1Ti6g3ioT7hTvRUpJjY#PPA115,M1

Not directly relevant but interesting in this context I think


I told my mother the next day about the experience - she dismissed it as a dream...she didn't cross examine me or any thing like that - but I tried to draw some symbols I saw to ask her what they meant. These symbols have been forgotten. It was not until 18 years later that the experience started to make sense in terms of reality. I'm glad you are not my mummy.:'(

[SorryImPsychic]

I'm sure I read somewhere that memories can change over time, sometimes quite a lot.
I wouldn't be surprised if the event/experience was (is?) different to the memory.

Does anyone know of any studies covering this?

This just insults my conscious being - the vividness of the experience was enough to engrave itself on my heart and mind. No embellishments - sure I've forgoten details but I do not try to invent them now.

[FarSideOfTheMoon]

Memory is not infallible. Get over it.

[DrS]

please stop with the rationalised explanations they are so off the mark.so do you only want irrationalised ones?

[SorryImPsychic]

so do you only want irrationalised ones?

Rationalism is over-rated! It presumes that its supposed "scientifically objective" stance is correct. Rationalism is rarely objective and it is rarely correct. Now if rationalism was truly objective then that would be a differant matter.

[SorryImPsychic]

Memory is not infallible. Get over it.


OKO0

[Mulder]

Rationalism is over-rated! It presumes that its supposed "scientifically objective" stance is correct. Rationalism is rarely objective and it is rarely correct. Now if rationalism was truly objective then that would be a differant matter.

I've always rated rationalism rather highly. Of course, it does get in the way of a good story.

It is extremely unlikely that you would have an accurate memory of an event so long ago and from such a young age. Memories alter over time and are not very accurate in young people. There is a great deal of material on this subject on the web if you can be bothered to look for it (eg http://www.visualexpert.com/Resources/eyewitnessmemory.html and http://www.assap.org/newsite/PDF%20pages/Paranormal%20witnesses.html).

I have memories from when I was 4 or 5 years old but they are vague and, frankly, if I could be transported back to that time, I have little doubt they would turn out to be almost entirely wrong. I have been involved in paranormal research for years and have seen witness testimony completely contradicted by video records and that is from events happening hours or days ago, far less years.

[ZERO]

Memories alter over time and are not very accurate in young people. There is a great deal of material on this subject on the web if you can be bothered to look for it (eg http://www.visualexpert.com/Resources/eyewitnessmemory.html and http://www.assap.org/newsite/PDF%20pages/Paranormal%20witnesses.html).

Ouch. I did have a bit of a google but I couldn't find anything.
It's all in the wording I guess.:-[

[Fiona]

Yes, me too. The second link does not work for me though :-[

[bindeweede]

Yes, me too. The second link does not work for me though :-[

Fiona,

When I first tried the second link, I just got a blank page. But I pressed the "refresh" button, and up came the page, but you need Adobe Reader, as it's a PDF.

Apologies if you know this already.

[Fiona]

Thanks Bindeweede. I did not know that but I have now tried it and it still doesn't work for me. I do have Adobe, and I can see other pdf files. But sadly this machine doesn't like me much and every now and then it just has to tell me so ;D

[SorryImPsychic]

I've always rated rationalism rather highly. Of course, it does get in the way of a good story.

There is a great deal of material on this subject on the web if you can be bothered to look for it (eg http://www.visualexpert.com/Resources/eyewitnessmemory.html and http://www.assap.org/newsite/PDF%20pages/Paranormal%20witnesses.html).

I have been involved in paranormal research for years and have seen witness testimony completely contradicted by video records and that is from events happening hours or days ago, far less years.

The memory of my experience is intact...what more can I say.

[Mulder]

Memories are very flexible in the early hours, days and weeks after they are formed. After that they tend to become fixed. However, during that early period they can be easily changed by a number of factors, including discussion, belief, imagination etc. Also, over time memories do fade. They are not like computer memories. They are neither unchanging nor permanent.

So, there is no scientific reason to think that your childhood memory is accurate. And even if it is, so what? It's only a dream!

[Mulder]

A great link for people who, wrongly, think human memory is reliable, long term and cannot be changed: http://faculty.washington.edu/eloftus/

Have we forgotten 'false memories' so soon? They're still out there and you don't need hypnosis or NLP to produce them.

Another point - how do we know the memory of a dream is accurate? Since a dream is, by definition, not real then how can we test the memory against the 'original'?