Nadean Cool

According to the authors of Invitation to Psychology and decades of studies, memory refers to the capacity to retain and retrieve information, and also to the structures that account for this capacity (Wade, C., & Tavris, C., 2005). The ability to retain and retrieve information shapes our identities and allows us to (based on our past recollections) guide our future. Although it is generally assumed to act as a camera, with detailed accounts, it is far more complex--memory is both selective and reconstructive. The brain is selective to what information is important and the amount of time it is important for. When we recall some type of information, we often alter it in ways that aid us in making sense of the material based on what we already …show more content…
1997). Her psychiatrist used hypnosis and other suggestive techniques to uncover memories of abuse that she had experienced. His methods proved to be unorthodox and she later realized that she was a victim of false memory. Cool had experienced a phenomenon known as source confusion or source misattribution-- she had memories of an event but had no recollection of their source or how clearly they occurred. The idea that memories can be planted calls to question the reliability and accuracy of a person’s …show more content…
In an instance where an individual is attacked by a criminal, the body's initial response is to acknowledge the attack as danger and as result initiates a fight or flight response. This response causes the release of stress hormones, specifically epinephrine (or adrenaline). The release of such a hormones causes the victim to focus more on protecting themselves thereby focusing all their attention on one thing. The victim is less likely to remember specific details such as the attacker's face or the color of a jacket and more likely to remember the emotions they