Chapter 7-Memory Retrieval Flashcards
Retrieval (definiton)
the process of accessing and bringing stored information from memory into conscious awareness.
The tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon
def: occurs when a person is temporarily unable to retrieve a word or name but feels that it is just barely out of reach.
-more common with infrequently used words.
-changes with age (as you age, memory worsens).
-aided by retrieval cues (e.g., 1st letter of someone’s name) or can be resolved spontaneously.
**there’s also a tip-of-the-fingers phenomenon for ASL
Context cues
-context cues can aid with retrieval
e.g., hometown visits can spark certain memories (physical environment), recalling info when in the same emotional state as during encoding (state-dependent memory), etc.
Misconception: Hypnosis can be used to retrieve memories of forgotten events
reality: hypnosis does not improve memory retrieval. in fact, hypnotized participants are more likely than others to get things wrong—and feel overconfident about their memories.
The misinformation effect
def: the misinformation effect occurs when participants’ recall of an event they witnessed is altered by introducing misleading post-event information.
e.g., Elizabeth Loftus’ eyewitness study: participants were shown a video of a car accident. after watching the video, some participants were asked, “How fast were the cars going when they hit each other?” others were asked, “How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?” a week later, participants’ recall of the accident was tested. they were asked whether they remembered seeing any broken glass in the accident (there was none). those who had earlier been asked about the cars “smashing” into each other were more likely to recall broken glass. why would they add this false detail to their reconstructions of the accident? probably because broken glass is consistent with their schemas for cars smashing together.
Source monitoring
def: the process of determining the origin of a memory, such as whether it came from personal experience, observation, or something heard or read.
-something that we do at the time of retrieval.
Source monitoring error
def: occurs when someone incorrectly identifies the origin of a memory, thought, or piece of information.
-people often falsely think that a piece of info came from their experience, when it really came from someone else telling them.
e.g. false testimony; suggestive questioning can implant false memories. witnesses might confuse memories of actual events with imagined details or information obtained from others (like media coverage or police questioning).
misconception: memory is like a mental videotape that can provide faithful reproductions of past events
reality: countless studies in recent decades have demonstrated that memories are incomplete, distorted, fuzzy reconstructions of past events. the adjectives that best describe memory are not exact or accurate, but rather fragile, fallible, and malleable.
Memory reconstruction (definition)
the process of actively reassembling memories, often by filling in gaps with information that may be inferred or influenced by prior knowledge, beliefs, or external cues.
**can lead to distortion of the original memory, making it susceptible to inaccuracies.
