MEMORY ILLUSION

Used in two senses: 1. Those all-too-frequent moments when you can't remember whether you did something or just thought about doing it; 2. those other all-too-frequent and embarrassing moments when you have absolutely clear and vivid memories of events or conversations that never happened at all. Example: Mark Twain's famous statement I remember everything whether it happened or not tells us that he understood the important role memory illusions play in everyday life.