title: Looking the past in the eye: Distortion in memory and the costs and benefits of recalling from an observer perspective.
abstract: Jordi Fernández (2015) discusses the possible benefits of two types of allegedly distorted memories: observer memories and fabricated memories. Fernández argues that even when memory does not preserve the past, some memories can still provide an adaptive benefit for the subject. I explore Fernández's claims focussing on the case of observer perspective memories. For Fernández, observer perspectives are distorted memories because they do not preserve past experience. In contrast, I suggest that observer perspectives can accurately reflect past experience: observer perspectives are not necessarily distorted memories. By looking at the complexity of the relation between remembering trauma from an observer perspective and emotional closure, I also sound a note of caution against Fernández's assertion that observer memories of trauma can be adaptively beneficial. Finally, I suggest that because observer perspectives are not necessarily distorted, but involve a distinct way of thinking about one's past, such memories can be epistemically beneficial.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Australia. Electronic address: christopher.mccarroll@mq.edu.au.
authors.forename: Christopher Jude
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: McCarroll
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D011939:Mental Recall
keywords: Autobiographical memory; Distorted memory; Memory reconstruction; Observer perspective memory