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In psychology, the misinformation effect is the idea that information presented after a memory is made can affect the accuracy of that memory. In other words, statements made to a person or questions asked of a person after an event can influence the way the person recalls the event and can cause distortions in memory. In some studies, people have been led to recall events that were totally false based on information they received from another person or from the phrasing of questions asked about the false event. Stress, age, susceptibility, the timing and phrasing of the presentation of the false information, repetition, the credibility of the person presenting the information, and the plausibility of the false scenario are all thought to be factors in how readily a person incorporates false events into "real" memories.

The distinction between episodic and semantic memory provides a useful tool for classifying memory phenomena and methods of measuring memory performance. Separate types of memory models have been proposed for each, but debate continues as to whether episodic and semantic memories constitute distinct memory systems. Special cases of memory such as photographic memory and flashbulb memory provide insight into how the brain consolidates memory.