Memory illusions

Memory illusions may be defined as cases in which a rememberer's report of a past event seriously deviates from the event's actual occurrence. This article introduces the special issue of the Journal of Memory and Language that is devoted to memory illusions by grounding their study in the context of perceptual illusions. Perceptual illusions have been investigated since the 1850s, whereas memory illusions have been systematically investigated only since the late 1960s or early 1970s (despite some pioneering research and writing before this time). I suggest possible reasons for this discrepancy in research activity, sketch a brief history of the study of memory illusions, and then consider the variety of memory illusions that are studied in contemporary psychology. The papers composing the special issue are introduced during this brief cataloging of memory illusions. Related areas of research are discussed in the concluding remarks. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.