Ciara Greene

people on average tend to remember positive events more than negative events over time. We tend to kind of let a lot of the negative stuff go and keep a lot of the positive stuff.

So we'll tend to kind of remember that we got better grades when we were in school, or we'll tend to remember that we were more generous than we were, that we gave more money to charity, that we were more helpful to other people. And that we, you know, did things that, you know, will make us look good.

So we'll tend to kind of remember that we got better grades when we were in school, or we'll tend to remember that we were more generous than we were, that we gave more money to charity, that we were more helpful to other people. And that we, you know, did things that, you know, will make us look good.

So we'll tend to kind of remember that we got better grades when we were in school, or we'll tend to remember that we were more generous than we were, that we gave more money to charity, that we were more helpful to other people. And that we, you know, did things that, you know, will make us look good.

And there's some really nice work showing that it isn't just that we do this in a way that it makes us look good to other people. It's also that it makes us look good to ourselves. So, for example, there was a really nice study looking at grades where people were asked to remember their grades. But in this study, they knew that the researchers had access to their actual scores.

And there's some really nice work showing that it isn't just that we do this in a way that it makes us look good to other people. It's also that it makes us look good to ourselves. So, for example, there was a really nice study looking at grades where people were asked to remember their grades. But in this study, they knew that the researchers had access to their actual scores.

And there's some really nice work showing that it isn't just that we do this in a way that it makes us look good to other people. It's also that it makes us look good to ourselves. So, for example, there was a really nice study looking at grades where people were asked to remember their grades. But in this study, they knew that the researchers had access to their actual scores.

But even so, when people would kind of ask to retrieve, you know, what were your grades like? And people who had gotten A's would remember them really well. People who had gotten D's did not remember them well. They remember that they had gotten B's or C's, even though they knew, the researchers knew the real data.

But even so, when people would kind of ask to retrieve, you know, what were your grades like? And people who had gotten A's would remember them really well. People who had gotten D's did not remember them well. They remember that they had gotten B's or C's, even though they knew, the researchers knew the real data.

But even so, when people would kind of ask to retrieve, you know, what were your grades like? And people who had gotten A's would remember them really well. People who had gotten D's did not remember them well. They remember that they had gotten B's or C's, even though they knew, the researchers knew the real data.

So it wasn't a matter of, I'm going to kind of slightly smudge this because, you know, I know there's a reason why I didn't do well there, but they don't need to know. You know they know. So your memory is actually being distorted to make you feel like you were a better student than you were or you were more generous or kinder or whatever.

So it wasn't a matter of, I'm going to kind of slightly smudge this because, you know, I know there's a reason why I didn't do well there, but they don't need to know. You know they know. So your memory is actually being distorted to make you feel like you were a better student than you were or you were more generous or kinder or whatever.

So it wasn't a matter of, I'm going to kind of slightly smudge this because, you know, I know there's a reason why I didn't do well there, but they don't need to know. You know they know. So your memory is actually being distorted to make you feel like you were a better student than you were or you were more generous or kinder or whatever.

Yeah, exactly. And this is, I suppose, it's kind of slightly tied into that idea that, you know, everybody is a better than average driver. Nobody is thinking of themselves as being a terrible driver. Nobody is thinking of themselves as, you know, oh, I was really only ever just average. But of course, this varies with a number of different things.

Yeah, exactly. And this is, I suppose, it's kind of slightly tied into that idea that, you know, everybody is a better than average driver. Nobody is thinking of themselves as being a terrible driver. Nobody is thinking of themselves as, you know, oh, I was really only ever just average. But of course, this varies with a number of different things.

Yeah, exactly. And this is, I suppose, it's kind of slightly tied into that idea that, you know, everybody is a better than average driver. Nobody is thinking of themselves as being a terrible driver. Nobody is thinking of themselves as, you know, oh, I was really only ever just average. But of course, this varies with a number of different things.

So, for example, with people who have depression, that tends to be a little bit less the case. And one of the things that that we can think about when we think about how our emotion interacts with our memory is that if we think about how our memories are very associative. OK, so I talked earlier on about that idea of you're walking down the street and something triggers a memory.

So, for example, with people who have depression, that tends to be a little bit less the case. And one of the things that that we can think about when we think about how our emotion interacts with our memory is that if we think about how our memories are very associative. OK, so I talked earlier on about that idea of you're walking down the street and something triggers a memory.

So, for example, with people who have depression, that tends to be a little bit less the case. And one of the things that that we can think about when we think about how our emotion interacts with our memory is that if we think about how our memories are very associative. OK, so I talked earlier on about that idea of you're walking down the street and something triggers a memory.

A lot of our memory works in the same way in a lot of different contexts. And one of the things that's really interesting from an emotional context is that we tend to retrieve memories that are congruent with our current emotional state. So if I'm currently feeling very happy, I'm more likely to be able to remember events when I was happy.