• Short-term memory allows us to be present in the moment.
• Long-term memory helps piece together our identity through the recollection of our past experiences, among other things.
• The farther back we go, the more our recollection gets murky.
• When you think back to your childhood, you are reconstructing your past while also being affected by who is asking, why, and how.

Oeberst’s study is innovative in suggesting that it’s equally as easy to reverse false memories.

Knowing the base truth isn’t even necessary to revert the fake recollections.

Use these two techniques:

1. Recall the exact source of the memory - what is leading you to remember this; what specific recollection do you, yourself, have?
2. False memory sensitization - tell yourself that being pressured to recall something can elicit false memories.

Takeaway is that every memory is a meta-memory, or an interpretation of a past time, one that can be impurified or purified by suggestions from the social environment. Simple awareness of this fact is crucial.