False Memory Syndrome And The Brain Essay -- Neurological Biology Essa

False Memory Syndrome And The Brain In the mid-nineties, a snipers buffeting shots echoed through an American playground. Several children were killed and many injured. A 1998 study of the 133 children who attended the school by psychologists Dr. Robert Pynoos and Dr. Karim Nader, experts on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder among children, yielded a very capricious discovery. Some of the children who were not on the schools grounds that day obstinately swore they had very vivid personal recollections of the attack happening (1). The children were not exaggerating, or playing make-believe. They were inflexible about the fact that they were indeed there, and that they saw the attack as it was occuring. Why would these children remember something so harrowing if they didnt actually experience it? What kind of trick was their brilliance playing on them? Why did it happen? False Memory Syndrome (FMS) is a condition in which a persons identity and interpersonal relationships are centered on a memory of traumatic experience which is actually false, but in which the person is strongly convinced (2). When considering FMS, its best to remember that all individuals are inclined to creating false memories. A common experiment in Introduction to Psychology courses include a test similar to this one Look at this distinguish of words and try to memorize them sharp thread sting eye pinch sew thin mend After a few seconds, the students depart be asked to recall these words, and are asked the following questions Was the word needle on the list? Was it near the top? The majority of the class will vehemently match that needle was, in fact, on the list. And not only that, it was actually quite close to being the first word. Some will attest to havin... ... memories, implant rheumatic and false ideas into the brains of their patients that havoc ensues. References1)Recovered Memory Therapy and False Memory Syndrome, Recent Legal and Investigative Trends by Dr. John Ho chman, M.D.http//www.pimall.com/nais/n.memory.html2) Memory and Reality Website of the False Memory Syndrome world http//www.fmsfonline.org/3) BodytalkMagazine.com How Memory florahttp//www.bodytalkmagazine.com/how%20memory%20works.htm4) The Skeptics Dictionary False Memoryhttp//skepdic.com/falsememory.html5) Salon.com Health and Body - The Story of Valerie Jenkshttp//www.salon.com/health/feature/1999/12/22/false_memory/6) How Memory Really Works Freuds Notion of Repressed Memoryhttp//www.skeptic.com/memory/7) FAQ for the False Memory Syndrome Foundation http//www.fmsfonline.org/fmsffaq.html