The seven sins of memory: Insights from psychology and cognitive neuroscience.
Abstract
Though often reliable, human memory is also fallible. This article examines how and why memory can get us into trouble. It is suggested that memory's misdeeds can be classified into 7 basic "sins": transience, absentmindedness, blocking, misattribution, suggestibility, bias, and persistence. The first three sins involve different types of forgetting, the next three refer to different types of distortions, and the final sin concerns intrusive recollections that are difficult to forget. Evidence is reviewed concerning each of the 7 sins from relevant sectors of psychology (cognitive, social, and clinical) and from cognitive neuroscience studies that include patients with focal brain damage or make use of recently developed neuroimaging techniques. Although the 7 sins may appear to reflect flaws in system design, it is argued instead that they are by-products of otherwise adaptive features of memory.
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People's memories and beliefs are highly malleable.
“First, people’s memories and beliefs are highly malleable (Chater, 2018; Schacter, 1999).”
From Stories in Action. (2022) · cites this paper as Schacter, 1999
Hypnotic suggestions can inflate a person's confidence in the accuracy of their own (false) memories (imagery inflation), affecting the rewriting of their memory.
“Additionally, hypnotic suggestions can inflate the person's confidence of the accuracy of their own (false) memories (imagery inflation), strongly affecting the rewriting of their memory (Heaps and Nash, 1999; Schacter, 1999; Wagstaff et al., 2004; Whitehouse et al., 1988).”
From Remembering what did not happen: the role of hypnosis in memory recall and false memories formation (2025) · cites this paper as Schacter, 1999
Imagery and unintentional suggestions may lead to the formation of false memories due to the source misattribution effect.
“It has been suggested that imagery and unintentional suggestions may lead to the formation of false memories (Arbuthnott et al., 2001; Strange and Takarangi, 2015) due to the source misattribution effect (Schacter, 1999).”
From Remembering what did not happen: the role of hypnosis in memory recall and false memories formation (2025) · cites this paper as Schacter, 1999
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“Why does this happen? First, people’s memories and beliefs are highly malleable (Chater, 2018; Schacter, 1999).”
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Schacter, D. L.
- Affiliations
- Harvard University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Schacter, Daniel L.
- ORCID
- Schacter, Daniel L.
- Venue
- American Psychologist
- Published
- 1999
- Volume
- 54
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 182-203
- ISSN
- 0003-066X (ISSN-L)
- 1935-990X
- OpenAlex
- W2089315399
- Cited by
- 1,133
- References
- 17
- Citations by year
- 2026: 56 · 2025: 43 · 2024: 48 · 2023: 35 · 2022: 52 · 2021: 48 · 2020: 64 · 2019: 61 · 2018: 65 · 2017: 71 · 2016: 45 · 2015: 60 · 2014: 55 · 2013: 46 · 2012: 50
- FWCI
- 10.19
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Psychologist (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Functions and Memory
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Identity, Memory, and Therapy
- Keywords
- memory errors, forgetting, transience, blocking, misattribution, suggestibility, memory bias, memory persistence, memory distortion, adaptive memory, neuroimaging of memory
- MeSH terms
- Brain, Cognition, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Memory, Neurosciences, Psychology, Tomography, Emission-Computed
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