6.6 Memory Failures: The Seven “Sins” of Memory Flashcards
Transcience
Forgetting what occurs with the passage of time
Memory fades more quickly at first, then more slowly over time
Retroactive Interference
Situations in which information learned later impairs memory for information acquired earlier
Proactive Interference
Situations in which information learned earlier impairs memory for information acquired later
Old interferes with the New
Absentmindedness
Lapse in attention that results in memory failure
Less activity in the frontal lobe when attention is divided
(Positive: Gives your mind a break from thinking about certain things)
Prospective Memory
Remembering to do things in the future
Blocking
Failure to retrieve information that is available in memory even though you are trying to produce it
(Also known as tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon)
(Positive: Can force you to encode and retrive information in a new way)
Memory Misattribution
Assigning a recollection or an idea to the wrong source
Frontal is intimately involved.
Source memory
Recall of when, where, and how information was acquired
False recognition
Feeling of familiarity about something that hasn’t been encountered before
(Same brain activation as true recognition; including hippocampus)
Suggestibility
Tendency to incorporate misleading information form external sources into personal recollections
People can develop false memories in response to suggestions
Suggestibility
Tendency to incorporate misleading information from external sources into personal recollections
People can develop false memories in response to suggestions
Bias
Distorting influences of present knowledge, beliefs, and feelings on recollection.
Has a generally negative distorting influence on people
Consistency Bias
Tendency to reconstruct the past to fit the present
Can help you recognize a mistake, and influence your future actions
Change Bias
Tendency to exaggerate differences between what we feel or believe now and what we felt or believed in the past
Egocentric Bias
Tendency to exaggerate the change between present and past in order to make ourselves look good in retrospect
A preservation tool.
“I told you so”
Why are biases unconscious?
They make us make better decisions, are almost a survival instinct
Persistence
An intrusive recollection of events that we wish we could forget
Often occurs after disturbing or traumatic events
Emotional experiences are better remembered than unemotional ones
(Positive: Could teach you a lesson about where not go , what behvaiour not to repeat)
Flashbulb Memories
Detailed recollections of when and where we heard about shocking events (or something that happened to us)
The amygdala is involved in emotional memory
What are the Seven Sins of Memory?
Transience
Absentmindedness
Blocking
Memory Misattribution
Suggestibility
Bias
Persistence
List positives for each of the Seven Sins of Memory
Transience- Forgetting is kind of a good thing; too much information retained could make things cluttered
Absentmindedness- Giving your mind a break, ignoring unimportant details
Blocking- Train brain to use other/new ways to remember things
Misattribution- If you remember that person was mean to me, you may not talk to that person again. Although you may not be able to remember why to avoid someone you may still avoid them.
Suggestibility - If someone else knows about something dangerous outside, its good to have everyone believe there’s something dangerous outside to protect them
Bias- Recognizing a mistake for the future. Can benefit our sense of contentment
Persistence - Adaptive to remember threatening or traumatic events that could pose a threat to survival.
What type of experiences are shown to be the easiest to remember?
Highly emotional ones
Which part of the brain responds strongly to emotional events?
Amygdala
