WASHINGTON — Where were you on Sept. 11, 2001, when the planes hit the Twin Towers? How did you first hear of Kennedy鈥檚 assassination?
It鈥檚 likely that most Americans alive at the time of these traumatic moments in history can recall a few specific details from the day. But beyond the basics, it鈥檚 not uncommon for the rest to be hazy. In fact, it鈥檚 entirely possible to misremember even the most important moments in time.
Recently, Brian Williams issued a public apology and took a from his position as anchor on the NBC Nightly 草莓传媒 after recanting a story he鈥檇 told for the past decade about his helicopter being shot down by a grenade in Iraq. In fact, it was the helicopter flying in front of Williams that came under fire. He said 鈥渢he fog of memory over 12 years鈥� caused him to conflate his accounts.
Williams isn鈥檛 the only person — or public figure — to have misremembered an important event. Washington Post reporter Amy Ellis Nutt tells 草莓传媒 that not only is misremembering not new; it鈥檚 very common — especially when it comes to emotional or traumatic memories. She likens recalling a memory to the childhood game of Telephone.
鈥淲hat scientists have learned is that what happens with memory is that every time we recall an event, we recall the previous telling of the event — so that in essence, we鈥檙e never recalling the original information. It鈥檚 basically like having a Xerox of a Xerox of a Xerox,鈥� says Nutt, who recently wrote about the science behind remembering in .
The New York Times showing just how Williams鈥� story changed over the years, and similar to Nutt’s explanation, Williams鈥� account of the incident is the slightest bit different each time he tells it.
Nutt says recalling an autobiographical memory is less like replaying a film and more like piecing together bits and pieces of information, ultimately making memories somewhat variable and unreliable. The reason memories are more in pieces has to do with the communication that happens in the brain, .
During an emotional event, the center of the brain tells the eyes to pay closer attention to the events transpiring, while making the聽area of the brain that records memories work harder. In the end, PBS points out, 聽emotional memories are stronger in content, but peripheral details are more blurry.
This revelation may help explain why both Hilary Clinton and George W. Bush have both had their past memories questioned — Clinton about whether she was ever under sniper fire in Bosnia; Bush for his account on learning about the first plane crash into the World Trade Center, as Nutt brings up in her piece.
The science also sheds light on why the U.S. National Research Council recently recommended tighter control over eyewitness testimony in court, Nutt says.
鈥淧eople seem to think that memory is something very specific, that it鈥檚 like a camera or a videotape, and recollecting, you just turn it on — you just go back and you look at the photo. But we don鈥檛. And so things that seem illogical 鈥� well, in essence, we鈥檙e remembering sort of the emotion around it, the stress around it and can misplace the facts,鈥� Nutt says.
Williams鈥� public apology has some accusing him over embellishing and even stealing valor from members of the military he was with at the time. Others believe Williams, who has been the face of NBC’s nightly news for 10 years, has been an honest reporter, and are convinced he simply misremembered the events.
Nutt says the answer is something only he knows.
鈥淚t happens and it happens to every one of us. It鈥檚 just we鈥檙e not all famous like Brian Williams, and therefore, have millions and millions of people hearing us tell the story.鈥�
