PERSPECTIVES ON MEMORY CONTAMINATION 2
Perspectives on Memory Contamination
As Elizabeth Loftus says, our memories are not a mirror or an accurate record of past events.
Rather, they are our perception of it. We perceive things differently, based on circumstances,
such as the context, in which the memory forms, and its importance, as well as time passage.
Over time, other memories may affect the original memory, leading to a flawed recollection of
past events.
Our memories make us. This is clear in the case of Clive Wearing. While his illness did little
harm to his other bodily functions, his inability to access past memories, and create new ones,
effectively destroyed his life. While he could still conduct music concerts, remember important
parts of his life such as his wife and children, and generally go about his daily chores unaided, he
could not lead a normal life anymore. The fact that he could not even remember he had suffered
such a tragic event In the first place further complicated his life. In short, he was no longer Clive
Wearing.
If memories make us, and we can hardly recollect past events accurately, the work for criminal
justice officers and legal officials is well cut out for them. In many cases, especially when
investigating crimes, officers rely on eyewitness accounts to piece together information on
events and identify perpetrators. Events such as assaults are traumatic for the victims, who have
a problem remembering what happened. When they do remember, they may not wish to be
reminded every time about such an event, or even in some unfortunate cases, interviewers may
intentionally coach their memories to implicate or exonerate particular individuals of interest.
The distortion of memories may be termed as the misinformation effect. It may also be the case
of false memories, created due to imagination and present events, and urged on by others. As the

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