We know that long-term memory gets fuzzier over time. But short-term memory may not be as reliable as it seems. This was revealed by researchers from the universities of Amsterdam (Netherlands) and Sussex (UK). To reach this conclusion, they conducted a study published in the journal Plus one. As part of their work, the scientists recruited hundreds of people who took part in several experiments.
Remember a letter to test the efficiency of short-term memory
During the interventions, adults had to project a series of circular letters onto a screen and remember one distinct letter they were shown. To complicate matters, the team reversed the direction of some of the letters. Letter combinations were shown briefly, sometimes for only a quarter of a second, followed by a three-second interval, after which a box would appear indicating where one of the letters was located. Then another series of messages appeared.
The volunteers had to point to the place indicated in the box where the letter of the first string they were shown was shown. Each participant was also informed in advance that some characters might be reversed. In addition, each participant had to rate whether or not they would succeed in getting the correct letter immediately after each test.
Brain: Memories are influenced by our expectations
According to the results, adults remembered letters well when they were directed normally, but their cognitive performance decreased. “in an amazing way” when the message was reversed. In detail, accuracy rates have dropped to around 40%. The authors also found that accuracy decreased over time between when the volunteers saw the messages and when they responded.
According to the scientists, the decrease in the accuracy of the memories is caused by a mismatch between reality and the expectations of the participants. “People are not usually used to seeing a message upside down, so their brain subconsciously and automatically turns it upside down to see it the right way. It also explains why their confidence, when given their answer, remains strong” and satisfying explanation statement.
