<P> Reconstructive memory is a theory of elaborate memory recall proposed within the field of cognitive psychology, in which the act of remembering is influenced by various other cognitive processes including perception, imagination, semantic memory and beliefs, amongst others . People view their memories as being a coherent and truthful account of episodic memory and believe that their perspective is free from error during recall . However the reconstructive process of memory recall is subject to distortion by other intervening cognitive functions such as individual perceptions, social influences, and world knowledge, all of which can lead to errors during reconstruction . </P> <P> Memory is never a literal recount of past experiences . Rather, it is dependent on the constructive processes present at the time of encoding that are subject to potential errors and distortions . Essentially, the constructive memory process functions by encoding the patterns of physical characteristics that are perceived by the individual, as well as the interpretive conceptual and semantic functions that act in response to the incoming information . By utilizing multiple interdependent cognitive processes there is never a single location in the brain where a given complete memory trace of an experience is stored . In this manner, the various features of the experience must be joined together to form a coherent representation of the episode and if this binding process fails it can result in source memory failure, where later attempted retrieval of the episode results in fragmented recollection and an inability to consolidate the information into a cohesive narrative of a past experience . During the recall of Episodic memory, the information that a person remembers is usually limited in scope, ultimately giving an incomplete recollection of an event . By employing reconstructive processes, individuals supplement other aspects of available personal knowledge into the gaps found in episodic memory in order to provide a fuller and more coherent version, albeit one that is often distorted . </P> <P> Many errors can occur when attempting to retrieve a specific episode . First, the retrieval cues used to initiate the search for a specific episode may be too similar to other experiential memories and the retrieval process may fail if the individual is unable to form a specific description of the unique characteristics of the given memory they would like to retrieve . When there is little available distinctive information for a given episode there will be more overlap across multiple episodes, leading the individual to recall only the general similarities common to these memories . Ultimately proper recall for a desired target memory fails due to the interference of non-target memories that are activated because of their similarity . </P>

O why is memory considered an active reconstructive process
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