What is cognitive bias in memory recall?

• A. Conscious wishful thinking
• B. Retrieval failure
• C. Interference
• D. Decay

Answer: (A)

Memory recall can be distorted by our own motives and expectations. When someone wants a memory to be true or wants to present themselves in a better light, they may reconstruct details or recall events in a way that fits those desires. That tendency is a cognitive bias in memory recall, often described as conscious wishful thinking. It means the remembered information is shaped by what we want to be true, rather than being a perfectly accurate record.

This differs from retrieval failure (where the memory is not accessible right now), interference (other memories getting in the way of recall), or decay (the memory trace fading over time). An example is remembering a past test as having gone well because you want to believe you studied enough, even if the actual performance was mixed. So the idea behind cognitive bias in memory recall is that our desires and motivations can systematically bias how we remember events.