An early memory I have is of swimming at the YMCA and my little sister "drowning" in the deep end of the indoor pool. I say "drowning" in with hesitation, because from my memory she was not, in fact drowning. If my memory serves me right, my sister could not get her foot on the ledge and kept slipping, therefore her head would go under the water, yet resurface. She was not 'drowning' in my memory because she also had a water toy to hold onto.
When I asked her to relay the same memory, from seven years ago, she strongly believes she was drowning in the pool that day.
The two memories differ slightly, one reason this is the case is because memory fades over time. An example of this is an illustration in the textbook, Psychology: From Inquiry to Understanding, by Salvador Dali, which relays images of clocks melting like wax. Another reason the same memory might slightly differ for two people is although our episodic memory, the "recollection of events in our lives" might serve us well what we choose to remember can differ (Lilienfeld 252).
I always have a hard time remembering all the details of a memory. I would have been more surprised if your sister and you recalled the same details in this event. You might have different memories also because she was the one experiencing it and you were viewing it? I am guessing you were both younger as well which plays a large role.
When we are kids, we will often recall things much differently than they actually were, especially if we are experiencing something that scares us or puts us in a panicked state. The story of your memory of an event versus your sisters was a great way to tie together your topic.
The differences in the two memories could also arise from a your differing perspectives of the situation. Obviously you were outside the pool and had a clearer view of what was actually happening, whereas her vision could have been obscured by splashing water and her concentration on evaluating the situation distracted by trying to respond properly to it. It is also possible the difference in age and experience could have played into it. Being a less experienced swimmer, she may have been more distraught or disoriented by the potential "drowning" situation, as she may have perceived it, being less mature at the time.
The fact that people can create false memories and believe them really interested me! I bet many people, myself included, have many stories like this on about your sister and you. I'm sure a lot has to do with see the event from a different point of view. Although on a more serious not, the case we studied in discussion about false memories was unbelievable! I can't believe someone could make themselves believe that they committed such a horrible crime when there was no substantial evidence.
I agree that viewpoints can be different in certain situations between the person who had the experience and the person who watched the experience.
I find the flexibility of our memories to be some what startling. It forces me to question some of my fondest memoreis and ask myself how my life my be different today if the memories that have shaped my life were formed differently. Would I still want to be a dentist? Would I still have the same friends? Would have personality be different? This also begs the question, is our court system really as reliable as it is portrayed? How often have witness testimony sent someone to prison? Kind of eery...
I think that memory like this is really interesting in that multiple people experience the same event, but there are multiple different recollections of it. This is often what makes it hard for police to solve crimes. Not all of the witnesses will always have the same story and I find it really interesting how people can remember the same event differently.