chapter eight

Question 1

autobiographical memory

Answer 1

memories of one’s own life events (episodic+semantic)

Question 2

multidimensional memory

Answer 2

consists of various sensory information, spatial information, emotions + thoughts

Question 3

reminisce bump

Answer 3

better autobiographical memory for events associated with adolescence and young adulthood (15-25 years old)

Question 4

self-image hypothesis

Answer 4

events that helps form one’s identity or self-image are better remembered

Question 5

cognitive hypothesis

Answer 5

• rapid life changes followed by stability are encoded more strongly because they are more salient
• i.e. going from not driving to driving, no job to first job

Question 6

cultural life script hypothesis

Answer 6

• easier to recall life events that fit one’s cultural script knowledge of important life events
• proposes that we have a learned idea from tradition and culture of expectations of life events
• i.e. graduate from high school, get license, go to uni, get married, have kids

Question 7

youth bias

Answer 7

tendency to think that important life events happen when one is young

Question 8

memory and emotion

Answer 8

• better memory for emotionally arousing words and pictures (i.e. “love/terror” vs. “chair/book”)
• greater brain activity in amygdala for emotionally arousing words
• stress hormones released after emotional experiences increases consolidation

Question 9

flashbulb memories

Answer 9

vivid memory for circumstances associated with hearing a shocking event

Question 10

characteristics of flashbulb memories

Answer 10

• riddled with error and lack detail
• people are confident in the accuracy in their flashbulb memory
• narrative rehearsal hypothesis

Question 11

narrative rehearsal hypothesis

Answer 11

rehearsing the events in one’s mind makes the memory vulnerable to being modified

Question 12

memory as a reconstruction

Answer 12

• based on knowledge, experiences and expectations
• i.e. schemas and scripts

Question 13

schemas

Answer 13

• knowledge of a scene/environment
• can lead to false recall and recognition

Question 14

script

Answer 14

knowledge of the sequence of actions that regularly occur in a certain situation

Question 15

the illusory truth effect

Answer 15

• repeated presentation of a statement increases the probability of it being judged to be true
• increases the fluency (rate of remembering the statement)

Question 16

barlett (memory as a reconstruction)

Answer 16

• presented folklore “war of the ghosts”
• asked participants to recall the story after various delays (repeated reproduction technique)
• longer delay = reproduction of the story was shorter (omissions) and inaccurate
• often reflected their own culture

Question 17

misinformation effect

Answer 17

misleading postevent information (MPI) can impact memory

Question 18

hyman jr. et al. (false memories)

Answer 18

• proposed that familiarity and source misattribution can result in false memories
• participants were provided with false information about a childhood event
• 2 days later, participants incorporated the information into memory

Question 19

errors in an eyewitness testimony

Answer 19

• where attention was directed (i.e. weapon focus when a weapon is used)
• source monitoring error (mistaking bystander as perpetrator)
• misleading postevent information

Question 20

improving eyewitness testimony

Answer 20

• inform that lineup might not contain perpetrator
• use high-similarity lineups
• blind lineup administrator
• rate confidence in selection immediately after selection

Question 21

cognitive interview increases correct details (eyewitness testimony)

Answer 21

• reinstates context of the crime
• asks to report everything
• recall events in different order
• recall incidents from different perspectives

Question 22

eliciting false confessions (eyewitness testimony)

Answer 22

• often involves presentation of fake evidence to suggest guilt
• social pressure and instructions for guided imagery