Misattribution of memory

Memory plays an important role in a number of aspects of our everyday lives and allows us to recall past experiences, navigate our environments, and learn new tasks. Information about a source of memory contains certain characteristics that reflect the conditions under which the memory representations were attained. The accuracy of their recall varies depending on the circumstances at which they are retrieved. Misattribution of memory refers to the ability to remember information correctly, but being wrong about the source of that information. Memory plays an important role in a number of aspects of our everyday lives and allows us to recall past experiences, navigate our environments, and learn new tasks. Information about a source of memory contains certain characteristics that reflect the conditions under which the memory representations were attained. The accuracy of their recall varies depending on the circumstances at which they are retrieved. Misattribution of memory refers to the ability to remember information correctly, but being wrong about the source of that information. Misattribution is likely to occur when individuals are unable to monitor and control the influence of their attitudes, toward their judgments, at the time of retrieval. Thus, memory is adapted to retain information that is most likely to be needed in the environment in which it operates. Therefore, any misattribution observed is likely to be a reflection of current attitudes. Misattribution is divided into three components: cryptomnesia, false memories, and source confusion. It was originally noted as one of Daniel Schacter's seven sins of memory. His book, The Seven Sins of Memory: How the Mind Forgets and Remembers, identifies misattribution as a type of memory distortion or inaccuracy. For example, people may assert that they saw a face in one context when they actually encountered it in another. Cryptomnesia is a form of misattribution. It involves the unconscious influence of memory that causes current thoughts to be wrongfully attributed as novel. In other words, individuals mistakenly believe that they are the original generators of the thought. When cryptomnesia arises in literature or scholarly ideas it is often termed 'inadvertent plagiarism', inadvertent because the subject genuinely believes the idea to be their own creation. Inadvertent plagiarism takes two forms. The first involves the plagiarizer regenerating a previously seen idea, but believing the idea to be novel. In the second form, the plagiarizer recalls the ideas of other author's as their own.