“In a report, published in Current Directions in Psychological Science, Anne Cleary of Colorado State University says deja vu may occur when aspects of a current situation resemble aspects of previously occurring situations — the more overlap between the elements of the new and old situations the stronger the feeling of familiarity”
via UPI
I haven’t read the research paper; just this account in the popular press. But it seems problematic. Most people I know can tell the difference between a deja vu experience and something reminding them of something from the past. The first response when something feels familiar is to ask what it could possibly be reminiscent of. The deja vu experience is so uncanny precisely because of that distinction — the nature of the situation promoting the sense of familiarity is one in which, after consideration, you know it cannot possibly be reminiscent of anything. It is more likely the case that deja vu represents a malfunction of the machinery of recognition or familiarity in the brain, in which the sensation of familiarity is too readily activated in inappropriate (i.e. novel) situations. This occurs, for example, in temporal lobe epilepsy, because the abnormal electrical activity autonomately activates areas of the brain associated with memory and recognition without the usual input. The research referenced here seems to misunderstand a fundamental aspect of deja vu, in short. This is my take on contemporary psychological research alot of the time. Hmmm, doesn’t that sound familiar?
I agree, deja vu has always felt like a malfunction of the machinery –unexpected,disconcerting, isolated from any previous experience. Glad you think so too. Now that you’ve raised the subject, I tried to come up with the number of times in my 5+ decades I’ve experienced a deja vu. I’m guessing it is no more than 10. The last one occurred a couple of years ago. I can remember where I was and what I was doing, even the time of day, but I cannot remember specifics except that it had to do with someone’s yard sign. Does frequency vary from person to person I wonder.
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Oh yes, frequency of deja vu varies tremendously! As I was suggesting, in some psychopathology like TLE, patients of mine report having the experience severaltimes a week, or even several times a day. I myself have half a dozen deja vu moments per year, I would estimate. See here: http://books.google.com/books?id=5flMtjmezeYC&pg=PA88&lpg=PA88&dq=%22deja+vu%22+frequency+%22general+population%22&source=web&ots=ugWfKgTKSC&sig=DsLD6hbCJBvtDIfEod6fWW-CIUg&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result#PPA88,M1
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