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📖 Why We Misremember

Adults reading comprehension · Psychology · Read the passage, then circle the best answer.

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Memory feels like a recording, but research suggests it is closer to a reconstruction. Each time we recall an event, the brain rebuilds it from fragments, and in doing so it can introduce changes.

In a well-known series of experiments in the 1970s, psychologist Elizabeth Loftus showed participants a film of a car accident and then asked how fast the cars were going when they “smashed” or “hit” each other. Those who heard “smashed” estimated higher speeds and were more likely to later report seeing broken glass, although none appeared in the film.

Findings like these have influenced fields from law to education. Courts increasingly recognize that confident eyewitness testimony can still be mistaken, and interview techniques have been revised to avoid leading questions.

None of this means memory is useless. It means memory is a living process, shaped by language, expectation and time, and that humility about what we recall is a reasonable response.

Words to know: reconstruction: the act of building something again from parts · testimony: a formal statement of what someone saw or knows

  1. How does the passage describe memory?
    1. As a perfect recording
    2. As a reconstruction rebuilt each time
    3. As unchanging
  2. What did the word “smashed” cause participants to do?
    1. Estimate higher speeds and recall broken glass
    2. Estimate lower speeds
    3. Forget the film
  3. How has this research affected courts?
    1. They recognize confident testimony can be mistaken.
    2. They ban questions.
    3. They ignore eyewitnesses.
  4. What attitude does the author recommend?
    1. Complete confidence
    2. Humility about what we recall
    3. Total distrust of memory
✂ Answer key: fold or cut along the line

1. B (main idea)   2. A (detail)   3. A (cause and effect)   4. B (author’s purpose)

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