Social Contagion of Memory

Social Contagion of Memory

Reviewed by Faisal Zaidi

The spread of a memory error from one person to another through conversation.

What it is

Hirst and Echterhoff reviewed how talking about the past changes what speaker and listener remember. A listener can take on details a speaker introduced, and selective retelling can make unmentioned details harder to recall later. Through networks of conversation these effects can help form memories that a group holds in common.

In effect

In the article on the Mandela effect, it is one route by which a wrong detail can become shared.

What it does not say

It does not say that every shared error spread by conversation; the visual Mandela effect studies found errors that appeared spontaneously.

Sources

  1. Hirst, W., & Echterhoff, G. (2012). Remembering in conversations: The social sharing and reshaping of memories. Annual Review of Psychology, 63(1), 55-79.