Chapter 4 - Mechanisms Underlying Recovered Memories Flashcards
Why is forgetting beneficial to us?
- Achieve our goals
- Function in society
- Avoid being distracted by our past
What would happen if we remembered every detail that happened in our lives?
- Information overload
- Forgetting is important because it helps us remember
The idea that not all of our forgetting is an accident but may be related to our motives and intentions is known as….
motivated forgetting.
How can we study if not all forgetting is an accident but can be related to our motives/intentions?
the directed forgetting procedure
What is the directed forgetting procedure?
participants are instructed to forget recently encoded materials
What are the 2 types of direct forgetting procedure?
- item method directed forgetting
- list method directed forgetting
Explain the study done to explain item method directed forgetting.
Learning Phase:
- subjects given a word to be encoded
- receive an instruction prompting them to either remember of forget the word
Testing Phase:
- given a test to recall all to-be-remembered words and recall all to-be-forgotten words
What are the results of item method directed forgetting procedure?
- To-be-forgotten words are
dramatically impaired - To-be-remembered items are
recalled quite well
What is an encoding deficit and what does it illustrate?
- Subjects rehearse the words until given an instruction to either remember or forget the word ➔ they either terminate encoding and rehearsal, or continue to rehearse the word
- shows how people are able to exercise voluntary control over what they allow into memory
Explain the study done to explain list method directed forgetting.
Learning Phase:
- subjects given a word to be encoded
- Halfway through the list, unexpectedly asked to forget words
Testing Phase:
- subjects are asked to disregard the earlier instruction to forget, and to remember as much as they can
What are the results of item method directed forgetting procedure?
- Encode the items in the first of the list
- No encoding deficits but rather retrieval deficits
1. Recognition tests– forgotten items remain intact in memory
2. Lower accessibility of those items-
Which experiment was done to examine if we can forget autobiographical memories?
Barnier et al (2007)
Briefly explain the experiment done by Barnier et al (2007)
Learning phase: Generate a personal memory for each 24-cue word
Group A: Forget 12 cue words ➔ Generate 12 new memories with new cue words
Group B: Remember 12 cue words ➔ Generate 12 new memories with 12 new cue words
Testing Phase: List all the memories they generated from both lists
What were the results found from study done by Barnier et al (2007)?
- found reliable and strong directed forgetting effects
What are repressors?
people who have a repressive coping style and tend to recall fewer negative events from their lives
What experiment was done to determine whether repressors are just skilled at inhibiting retrieval?
Myers, Brewin & Power (1998)
Briefly explain the experiment done by Myers, Brewin & Power (1998)
- used a directed forgetting procedure in which subjects studied pleasant or unpleasant words
-Repressors were better at using retrieval inhibition to block recall of recently studied unpleasant words
Repressors have been found to be superior to non-repressors in intentionally…
suppressing personal emotional events from their past
What is the purpose for the study done by Geraerts, Merckelbach, Jelicic, & Smeets (2006a)?
Do natural repressors experience more unwanted intrusions in the days after having intentionally avoided such thoughts?
Briefly explain the experiment done by Geraerts, Merckelbach, Jelicic, & Smeets (2006a)
- were instructed to keep a 7-day diary reporting their positive and negative intrusions, after having suppressed these intrusions in the lab
- Over 7-day period, they reported highest number of negative intrusions
What do the results of Geraerts, Merckelbach, Jelicic, & Smeets (2006a) show?
Short-term benefits: fewer unwanted thoughts
Long-term consequences: not a good way to cope with negative emotions
Memory resembles…
a synthesis of experience NOT a replay of a videotape
What is a consequence of our memory resembling “synthesis of experience” and not “videotape?
FALSE MEMORIES - People can come to believe memories of experiences that never happened
What are some things that impact the way we recall memories and remembered events:
Post-event misinformation ➔ information an eyewitness later reads or hears from others are easily added to their narrative
Leading questions ➔ prompts or encourages the desired answer
Misinformation effect ➔ subjects believe they have seen items that were misleadingly suggested
Briefly describe the experiment done by Loftus & Palmer (1974).
“Did you see a broken headlight” vs “Did you see the broken headlight” is an example of…
Misinformation effect:
- Definite question (”the”) = fewer “I don’t know” responses and more “recognition” of the event
“How fast was the vehicle traveling when the car contacted vs smashed each other” is an example of…
A Leading Question:
- “Smashed” = 10% faster than “contacted”
Briefly describe the Roediger & McDermott (1995) and Deese–Roediger–McDermott (DRM) paradigm
- showed that it is amazingly easy
to foster false memories with college students in the lab - subjects studied a list of words that are strong semantic associates of a word not presented on the list – the critical lure
- EX. a list contained words
related to the topic of sleep but the word sleep was not mentioned - many of their subjects falsely recalled and recognized having seen these critical lures
What is an example of false autobiographical memories (AM)?
Convinced participants that they experienced a childhood event that never happened
Ex. being hospitalized overnight
What is directed forgetting?
- sexually abused children cope by developing an avoidant encoding style
- Able to disengage their attention from threatening cues
- Impairing memory for these cue
Briefly explain the study done by McNally, Clancy & Schacter (2001)
Learning Phase:
Shown words on a computer screen (2 seconds) Cue to either ”remember” or “forget” the previous word
3 categories of words:
Trauma-related (e.g., abuse)
Positive (e.g., sociable)
Neutral (e.g., banister)
Testing Phase:
- Free recall task immediately after
- Disregard previous “forget” or “remember” instructions
What were the results from the study done by McNally, Clancy & Schacter (2001)
People reporting recovered child sexual abuse memories are…
prone to falsely remembering/recognizing non-presented words
