Cryptomnesia
Cryptomnesia is a phenomenon where a forgotten memory reappears without being recognized as such by the subject, who believes it is a new and original thought.
Cryptomnesia is a phenomenon where a forgotten memory reappears without being recognized as such by the subject, who believes it is a new and original thought. It is a form of unconscious plagiarism, where information previously encountered is mistakenly attributed to one's own creative thought.1
The term was coined by the psychology professor Theodore Flournoy in his study of the medium Hélène Smith, who claimed to channel historical figures and speak in unknown languages. Flournoy believed that the content produced during her séances came from her "subliminal imagination, derived largely from forgotten sources."1
Cryptomnesia has been used as a defense in high-profile plagiarism cases, such as those involving Helen Keller and Friedrich Nietzsche, suggesting that the brain is capable of astonishing feats of memory, even if unconsciously.1
Sources
- Jacobsen, Annie. Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis. Little, Brown and Company, 2017. ↩
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