The Power of Suggestion and Emotion on Our (False) Memories
How well do you remember the highly emotional events of your life? People generally hold strong and vivid memories of these events, both happy, like one’s first kiss, or sad like the death of a family member. Research has shown that memories are highly susceptible to distortion through time and suggestion. Emotion plays a large role in memory. Our experiences are always being shaped by our moods and emotions at that time. Evidence has shown that emotional information and events are remembered better and more vividly, but are more susceptible to distortion. There has been great quantity of research done on emotion’s effect on memory and suggestion’s effect on memory, but very little on the effect that emotion has on suggestion of memory. A 2014 study by Ilse Van Damme and Karolien Smets took a look at that phenomenon. The study was interested in false memories and the factors that produce them.
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