That confidence people have in their memory is weakly related to its accuracy, that false memories of fictitious childhood events can be easily implanted, are claims that rest on shaky foundations: Memory is malleable but essentially reliable

Regaining Consensus on the Reliability of Memory. Chris R. Brewin, Bernice Andrews, Laura Mickes. Current Directions in Psychological Science, January 30, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721419898122

Abstract: In the last 20 years, the consensus about memory being essentially reliable has been neglected in favor of an emphasis on the malleability and unreliability of memory and on the public’s supposed unawareness of this. Three claims in particular have underpinned this popular perspective: that the confidence people have in their memory is weakly related to its accuracy, that false memories of fictitious childhood events can be easily implanted, and that the public wrongly sees memory as being like a video camera. New research has clarified that all three claims rest on shaky foundations, suggesting there is no reason to abandon the old consensus about memory being malleable but essentially reliable.

Keywords: false memory, memory accuracy, confidence, lay beliefs