How fake images change our memory and behaviour
For decades, researchers have been exploring
just how unreliable our own memories are. Not only is
memory fickle when we access it, but it's also quite easily
subverted and rewritten. Combine this susceptibility
with modem image-editing software at our fingertips like
Photoshop, and it's a recipe for disaster. In a world where
we can witness news and world events as they unfold,
fake images surround us, and our minds accept these
pictures as real, and remember them later. These fake
memories don't just distort how we see our past, they
affect our current and future behaviour too - from what we
eat, to how we protest and vote. The problem is there's
virtually nothing we can do to stop it.
Old memories seem to be the easiest to manipulate.
In one study, subjects were showed images from their
childhood. Along with real images, researchers snuck
in manipulated photographs of the subject taking a hotair
balloon ride with his or her family. After seeing those
images, 50% of subjects recalled some part of that hot-air
balloon ride - though the event was entirely made up.
EVELETH, R. Disponível em: www.bbc.com. Acesso em: 16 jan. 2013 (adaptado).
A reportagem apresenta consequências do uso de novas
tecnologias para a mente humana. Nesse contexto, a
memória das pessoas é influenciada pelo(a)