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False Memory Implantation Essay

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The human mind is a complex system used to interpret information, however it is also simplistic. When suggested upon, the mind can often combine false memories with real past experiences. This can be a major pitfall for eyewitness testimonies within the judicial system. Methods of interviewing eyewitnesses will often lead an individual to recall memories that never occurred. When triggering words are used to suggest upon the mind, this is called false memory implantation. This tampers with the truth behind testaments in a way that will cause individuals to blend real events with the suggestions hidden within leading questions. False memory implantation in the courtroom disrupts the integrity of trials, however, it can be prevented through the …show more content…

Michael was brought in for questioning after his sister of similar age was found dead in their own home. Young Michael witnessed “psychological torture” says Richard Leo: a student of police interrogation dynamics (qtd. in Humes par. 10). The boy was targeted by the detectives due to his abnormal grieving. After the police arrived Michael “sat expressionless” playing a video game (Humes par. 5). Humes writes, “they completed their many hours of interrogation [...] used lies, false promises, [...] threats of adult prisons, and predatory older inmates” (par. 6). Soon after all of these attacks on his psyche, his memory was blended with the real and false events described to Michael while in questioning. Once the child was forced to feel accountable for the gruesome murder of his beloved Stephanie Crowe, he confessed. Michaels age increased his suggestibility as well as the cruel scare tactics used upon him and was later incriminated because of the mental abuse. Humes writes, “they suggested he might have a split personality: a good Michael who would never hurt a fly, and a bad Michael who had locked away the memory of poor Stephanie’s murder, enabling him to sit there innocent” (par. 6). The detectives on the cases were trying to convince Crowe that he repressed the memory so well that he could have stabbed his own sister to death without being able to consciously recall

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