Recall bias
The term memory distortion (also memory effect , english recall bias ) referred to in terms of cognitive distortion is a source of errors, especially in retrospective studies .
What is meant are distortions that arise from the fact that the test persons no longer correctly remember incidents or when incidents are retrospectively more or less important than originally. One study design that is particularly prone to memory bias is the so-called case-control study . It is used to determine risk factors for certain diseases. For this purpose, patients with this disease and those without this disease are asked whether they have had these risk factors in the past. It is possible that both sides can no longer remember exactly after a long time and give imprecise information. In addition, patients can have of what the illness might have caused, and remember those risk factors more or overly strong (with the disease own ideas selective reporting of endpoints or English reporting bias ). Conversely, it would be if doctors are more likely to discover a disease, because a particular risk factor is present ( observer-dependent distortion judgment or English Observer bias ).
To prevent memory bias, prospective studies are carried out.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Marcus Müllner: Successful scientific work in the clinic: Evidence Based Medicine . Springer-Verlag, 2013, ISBN 978-3-7091-3755-0 , pp. 73 ( limited preview in Google Book search).