A Study in Experimental and Social Psychology . Based on his experiments, Bartlett concluded that our memories generally serve us well, not by offering photographic recall, but by selectively sampling experience and molding it so that our lives have purpose and meaning. In a world of constantly changing environment, literal recall is extraordinarily unimportant. In other words, the human species has evolved a brain that is adaptable, nimble, versatile and imaginative, but not always accurate. For instance, I am often quite sure I've told a friend something, when in fact I told someone else.
Source amnesia is far more common with distant events, however.
Thus, it is fairly common to construct a memory that encompasses details from several sources, including, perhaps, family photos, real memories of a bedroom, stories we have heard, or movies we have seen. Then the memories can seem quite accurate. That may be combined with a grotesque, stereotyped scene from a book or movie to form a coherent but misleading narrative. In addition, we forget a good deal more than we remember. That's why one common method employed by recovered-memory therapists works so well.