Minimal memory for details in real life events
Open accessAbstract
The extent to which the details of past experiences are retained or forgotten remains controversial. Some studies suggest massive storage while others describe memories as fallible summary recreations of original events. The discrepancy can be ascribed to the content of memories and how memories are evaluated. Many studies have focused on recalling lists of words/pictures, which lack the critical ingredients of real world memories. Here we quantified the ability to remember details about one hour of real life. We recorded video and eye movements while subjects walked along specified routes and evaluated whether they could distinguish video clips from their own experience from foils. Subjects were minimally above chance in remembering the minutiae of their experiences. Recognition of specific events could be partly explained by a machine-learning model of video contents. These results quantify recognition memory for events in real life and show that the details of everyday experience are largely not retained in memory.
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If people retain as few details about experiences as suggested by Misra et al. (2018), then remembered past events involve some degree of imagination, such as filling in missing details with internally generated content.
“If people actually retain as few details about their experiences as suggested by the results of a recent study (Misra, Marconi, Peterson, & Kreiman, 2018), then it is not surprising that remembered past events involve some degee of imagination, such as filling in missing details with internallygenerated content including details from related experiences, conceptual information fleshing out aspects”
From Mental Time Travel? A Neurocognitive Model of Event Simulation. (2020) · cites this paper as Misra, Marconi, Peterson, & Kreiman, 2018
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- Authors
- Misra, P., Marconi, A., Peterson, M., & Kreiman, G.
- Affiliations
- Harvard University (US)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kreiman, Gabriel
- Venue
- Scientific Reports
- Published
- 2018-11-12
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 16701-16701
- ISSN
- 2045-2322 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6232115
- OpenAlex
- W2900083963
- Cited by
- 39
- References
- 46
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 1
- FWCI
- 2.83
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Scientific Reports (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation
- National Institutes of Health
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Functions and Memory
- Keywords
- recognition memory, event memory, everyday experience, memory retention, memory assessment
- MeSH terms
- Machine Learning, Adolescent, Adult, Eye Movements, Female, Humans, Male, Memory, Young Adult
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