If you had to describe Rich Uncle Pennybags—the Monopoly mascot—would you mention his top hat? His mustache? How about his monocle?
The face of the famous board game has, in reality, never worn a monocle. Yet, many people confidently list the accessory when recalling his features—an example of a phenomenon of false visual memories.
A forthcoming paper by University of Chicago scholars, currently available in preprint, found that people have consistent, confident, and widespread false memories of famous icons—also known as the Visual Mandela Effect. Co-authored by University of Chicago scholars, the paper is the first scientific study of the internet phenomenon.
Comments are closed.