Everyday Memory

Question 1

What is the term everyday memory

Answer 1

Everyday memory research is concerned with the content of information recalled in the present day

Question 2

Define autobiographical memory

Answer 2

Episodes recollected from an individual’s life (past memories, experiences and events)

Question 3

Describe autobiographical memory

Answer 3

It is concerned with personal significance rather than trivial memories, it deals with complex memories over a long time and involves the LTM system of declarative (semantic and episodic memory)

Question 4

Who created the self- memory system model?

Answer 4

Conway (2000)

Question 5

What is the self- memory system model?

Answer 5

Personal memories are organized into meaningful networks of lifetime periods and general events

Question 6

Herlet (1997) found factors shaping autobiographical memory, including what?

Answer 6

Stressful situations interfere with encoding

The amount of information recalled and its regency

Question 7

Detailed diary study of autobiographical memory was performed within what experiment

Answer 7

Cohen (1947) diaries were used to check the accuracy of retrieval, it did depend on the available retrieval cues at the time, however participants recalled about 1/2 of the events of the previous 6 years

Question 8

Describe Reese et al. (1974) assumption of age and autobiographical memory

Answer 8

We experience childhood amnesia- virtually remember nothing about few few years of our life (hippocampus not developed and cannot verbally communicate what we process)
The older we get the less we remember, this age decline is a universal finding
Reminisce Bump; better at remembering early adulthood years- pleasant?

Question 9

Evaluation of Autobiographical Memory

Answer 9

May have implications for depression- tendency to remember bad events (loss in a sense of self)
Lab environments can not reflect all the variables that operate in the real world- low ecological validity
Learning everyday is incidental rather than intentional
Hindsight bias for recalling pleasant rather than unpleasant memories
Transfer processing (state dependent) remember happy events if we are happy at the time of recall

Question 10

What is a Flashbulb memory? (Brown & Kulik, 1982)

Answer 10

Detailed and vivid memory than is stored of one occasion near-permanently

Question 11

Explain experimental evidence into Flashbulb memory

Answer 11

Brown and Kulik (1982) found 78/80 participants were able to report some detail into the JFK assassination (major event) they were able to remember tribal details in relation to their own lives at the time; location (90%), activity, source, affect and aftermath (43%) are what people remembered the most
Bohannon (1988) reported details of this for the space shuttle disaster

Question 12

What correlations did Rummins et al. (2013) find in accordance to flashbulb memories?

Answer 12

Prior knowledge, personal significance, emotional state and rehearsal

Question 13

Evaluation of Flashbulb memory research

Answer 13

Is there a special memory mechanism that allows this?
Practical applications in PTSD
Age differences- only reaching adulthood do people show signs for flashbulb events

Question 14

What is prospective memory?

Answer 14

It involves remembering to carry out intended actions

Question 15

Zogg et al. (2012) found…

Answer 15

Event-based memories easier to remember than time-based, as three are triggered by external cues more
Also , interruptions can impact and impair prospective memory

Question 16

Who are the main researchers into Eye witness testimony?

Answer 16

Lotus (1987)
Allport and Postman (1947)
Loftus and Palmer (1974)
LeBurns (1968)

Question 17

Who created the Seven sins of memory distortions

Answer 17

Schacter (2001)

Question 18

What were the 7 memory distortions? (Schacter, 2001)

Answer 18

Absent mindedness- low attention and distraction
Misattribution- remember the information but not its source
Transience (information becomes out of date)
Blocking - hold back information to make way for competing memory
Suggestibility- false suggestion acceptance made by another person
Persistence- failure to recall unwanted information
Bias- failing to recall information that does not fit in with the present

Question 19

What are the factors of EWT

Answer 19

Weapon Focus
Conformation Bias
Prior/Post information 
Violence
Anxiety or stress 
Vulnerability
Arousal and awareness
Number in a line up
Age
Race
Weapon focus
Questions wording 
Forgetting curve

Question 20

Describe Allport and Postman (1947) study into EWT

Answer 20

They showed participants an illustrated picture of a crime for a matter of minutes, the majority of participants recall seeing a black man hold the knife, however this was incorrect. Prior expectations and stereotypes shape and distort memory.

Question 21

What is Race-effect?

Answer 21

We are weak at identifying another race

Question 22

Who researched EWT and question wording?

Answer 22

Lotus and Palmer (1974)

Question 23

What is Eye witness testimony

Answer 23

EWT is often the only form of evidence and may determine if a defendant is convicted- it depends on constructive memory of the crime which can often we distorted if the participant does not attend the situation throughly or is unaware of its significance at the time.

Question 24

Describe Loftus (1987) study into EWT

Answer 24

2 films were shown to participants; one contained a robbery (with a gun) and the other showed a crime (without gun)
Weapon focus often impairs on memory as stimuli is threatening
Also violence can have this effect also

Question 25

Evaluate EWT

Answer 25

Case studies: de Mendez and Brendan Dassey
Children more coerced and susceptible- often more inaccurate findings
Debate about rape victims and child abuse if it occurred 20 years ago - imagination, post information, flashbulb memory?
Face recognition- can change external features- overly focused on peripheral details
Schema effect: reconstruct memory on the basis of what must be true
Accuracy not associated with confidence
Some information is blatantly incorrect
Conforming bias (public commitment)
Lacks ecological validity- when it’s a matter of life and death rather than a low-anxiety situation culprits are less frequently identified

Question 26

What was LeBurns (1968) theory of EWT and anxiety

Answer 26

LeBurns suggested people are more vulnerable and susceptible when in an emotional state