Distorted Memory What is the truth, anyway?
Does our memory play tricks on us and effect our perception of the truth? I’m Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.
May: Our research would suggest that people when they have some sort of motive they actively but non-consciously distort their memory to achieve that motive.
Frank May is an assistant professor in the marketing department in the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech. He’s conducted tests to study the memories of people who often act on impulse.
May: Memories can totally differ depending on the context or what you’re trying to achieve.
In the case of our research, these impulsive people are trying to achieve being able to eat cheesecake. To further that goal, they distort memories of what they’d done in the past.
Frank May’s findings may have broad implications.
May: For example, if you run a gym and you’re trying to get those impulsive people to work out more often. You’d probably do well by sending out emails saying, “You’ve been to the gym x times this week.” Serve as a nice reminder for those impulsive people who might be tricking themselves into thinking, “Oh, I’ve been so many times this past week.” They’d see this email, say “that’s not true”, perhaps visit more often.
If you’re running a bank, you’re trying to get people to save money. Same thing. It’s been x months since your last deposit. Impulsive people to avoid putting money away so they can’t spend it now, might trick themselves into thinking, “Oh, yeah. I’ve put in a lot of money very often.” Seeing these emails would be a nice reminder, “hey, it’s been a while since I’ve put in a deposit. I should go deposit more money.”
It has implications for business owners or society in general as well. This notion of memory distortion could play a role in how people vote. Right? If you have a favorite candidate you’re going to selectively remember all of the good things that that candidate has done and selectively remember all of the bad things that the other candidate has done to sort of justify your choice. Right? At a broad level, yes, memory distortion could influence how people vote. Truth is subjective ultimately, I think.
I’m Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.