Are observer memories (accurate) memories? Insights from experimental philosophy

• Published in: Consciousness and cognition Vol. 96; no. 103240; p. 103240
• Main Authors: Dranseika, Vilius, McCarroll, Christopher Jude, Michaelian, Kourken
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.11.2021; Elsevier BV; Elsevier
• Subjects: Accuracy in memory; Experimental philosophy; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Memory distortion; Mental Recall; Observer memory; Perspective in memory; Philosophy; Perspective in memory; Experimental philosophy; Observer memory; Accuracy in memory; Memory distortion
• ISSN: 1053-8100; 1090-2376
• DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2021.103240

•The folk concept of memory does not preclude observer memory.•Observer memory tends to be perceived as slightly less accurate than field memory.•Philosophical theories overstate the difference between field and observer memory.•Subjects’ own dominant perspective for recall does not impact ascriptions of accuracy in remembering.•There were no differences in ascriptions of accuracy between memories of recent and distant events. A striking feature of our memories of the personal past is that they involve different visual perspectives: one sometimes recalls past events from one’s original point of view (a field perspective), but one sometimes recalls them from an external point of view (an observer perspective). In philosophy, observer memories are often seen as being less than fully genuine and as being necessarily false or distorted. This paper looks at whether laypeople share the standard philosophical view by applying the methods of experimental philosophy. We report the results of five studies suggesting that, while participants clearly categorize both field and observer memories as memories, they tend to judge that observer memories are slightly less accurate than field memories. Our results suggest, however, that in lay thought, the difference between field and observer memories is not nearly as clear-cut as philosophers have generally taken it to be.