Final answer:
Confabulation may cause individuals to believe strongly in a memory that isn't true, often constructing false recollections without the intention to deceive.
Step-by-step explanation:
The phenomenon that may cause you to believe strongly in a memory that is simply not true is known as confabulation. Confabulation is an unconscious process of creating a fabricated, distorted, or misinterpreted memory about oneself, an event, or the environment, without the intention to deceive. People who confabulate genuinely believe that their memories are true. This is different from the concept of FLASHBULB MEMORY, which refers to a highly detailed and vivid 'snapshot' of the moment when a surprising and consequential or emotionally arousing event happened. Another related term is FALSE MEMORY SYNDROME, which refers to the recall of false autobiographical memories. This can be exacerbated by the misinformation effect, where a person's recall of an event becomes less accurate due to post-event information. Memory construction and reconstruction are processes involved in forming new memories (construction) and bringing up old memories (reconstruction), which can cause distortions or inaccuracies in our memories. The human brain has a tendency to seek confirmation for existing beliefs or stereotypes - a phenomenon known as CONFIRMATION BIAS.