Wednesday, 9 January 2002 : "twin memories"

She frequently found that one twin would interrupt the other and claim ownership of the event being recalled. ... In all, 14 of the 20 sets of twins had at least one disputed memory between them.

Sheen says that disputed memories are common among twins because they tend to share so many of the same experiences at exactly the same time in their lives. (In a subsequent study of 69 college students who were not twins, Sheen found that six had a disputed memory with a sibling or close friend.)

Does the misremembering twin really believe that his or her memory is the correct one? Apparently. Sheen found that feelings of "ownership" were equally strong among the twins she studied. She said she didn't detect any hesitation or anything else that would suggest which twin was misremembering the event: "The twins got genuinely upset with each other..."

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Posted by Joni @ 01/09/2002 10:02AM est