6.6 Memory Failures: The Seven “Sins” of Memory

Question 1

Transcience

Answer 1

Forgetting what occurs with the passage of time

Memory fades more quickly at first, then more slowly over time

Question 2

Retroactive Interference

Answer 2

Situations in which information learned later impairs memory for information acquired earlier

Question 3

Proactive Interference

Answer 3

Situations in which information learned earlier impairs memory for information acquired later

Old interferes with the New

Question 4

Absentmindedness

Answer 4

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)

Question 5

Prospective Memory

Answer 5

Remembering to do things in the future

Question 6

Blocking

Answer 6

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)

Question 7

Memory Misattribution

Answer 7

Assigning a recollection or an idea to the wrong source

Frontal is intimately involved.

Question 8

Source memory

Answer 8

Recall of when, where, and how information was acquired

Question 9

False recognition

Answer 9

Feeling of familiarity about something that hasn’t been encountered before

(Same brain activation as true recognition; including hippocampus)

Question 10

Suggestibility

Answer 10

Tendency to incorporate misleading information form external sources into personal recollections

People can develop false memories in response to suggestions

Question 11

Suggestibility

Answer 11

Tendency to incorporate misleading information from external sources into personal recollections

People can develop false memories in response to suggestions

Question 12

Bias

Answer 12

Distorting influences of present knowledge, beliefs, and feelings on recollection.

Has a generally negative distorting influence on people

Question 13

Consistency Bias

Answer 13

Tendency to reconstruct the past to fit the present

Can help you recognize a mistake, and influence your future actions

Question 14

Change Bias

Answer 14

Tendency to exaggerate differences between what we feel or believe now and what we felt or believed in the past

Question 15

Egocentric Bias

Answer 15

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”

Question 16

Why are biases unconscious?

Answer 16

They make us make better decisions, are almost a survival instinct

Question 17

Persistence

Answer 17

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)

Question 18

Flashbulb Memories

Answer 18

Detailed recollections of when and where we heard about shocking events (or something that happened to us)

The amygdala is involved in emotional memory

Question 19

What are the Seven Sins of Memory?

Answer 19

Transience

Absentmindedness

Blocking

Memory Misattribution

Suggestibility

Bias

Persistence

Question 20

List positives for each of the Seven Sins of Memory

Answer 20

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.

Question 21

What type of experiences are shown to be the easiest to remember?

Answer 21

Highly emotional ones

Question 22

Which part of the brain responds strongly to emotional events?

Answer 22

Amygdala