Everyday Memory and Memory Errors Flashcards
Exam 2
Autobiographical Memory
Memory for specific experiences from OUR life
What is mental time travel?
Reliving an episodic/autobiographical memory
Autobiographical memories are _________, which means they contain spatial, emotional, and sensory components
Multidimensional
_____________ plays a role in forming and retrieving AM
Visual experiences
Both of the photos from Cabeza’s experiments activated the (2)
Medial temporal lobe
Parietal cortex
The own-photos from Cabeza’s experiments activated the (2)
Prefrontal cortex
Hippocampus
What did Cabeza’s experiment demonstrate about autobiographical memory?
Demonstrated the richness of AM; own photos activated memories on a more PERSONAL level
What events are remembered well in a person’s life? (3)
- Significant events in a person’s life
- Highly emotional events
- Transition points
Transition Point
The gap between changing from one thing to another; Remembered heavily **
What is the reminiscence bump?
Participants over the age of 40:
Memory is high for recent events and for events that occurred in adolescence and early adulthood.
What are the three possible explanations of the reminiscence bump?
- Self-image
- Cognitive
- Cultural life script
Self-image
Periods of assuming person’s self-image
Cognitive
Encoding is better during periods of RAPID change
Cultural life script
Personal events are easier to recall when they fit the cultural life script (Ex: Graduating high school at 18)
Primacy effect
Tendency to recall information presented at the start of a list better than information at the middle or end
Recency effect
Tendency to recall information presented at the end of the list compared to the beginning or middle
An example of changing the reminiscence bump is
Moving to the U.S. later in life (33-39); Cognitive hypothesis
The most supported cause of the reminiscence bump is **
The cognitive hypothesis
How does attaching strong emotion to events affect recall?
Highly emotional events are more easily and vividly remembered
Emotion improves memory, which would further improve _______
Consolidation
Flashbulb Memories
Memory for the CIRCUMSTANCES surrounding shocking, highly charged important events
A highly emotional, highly vivid, and very detailed memory is called
A flashbulb memory
Flashbulb memories are not “______________” memories
photograph
Do flashbulb memories stay the same or change over time? Is the accuracy measured?
Change; No, just confidence in accuracy
Repeated recall in flashbulb memories (2 steps)
- Initial description as soon as possible compared to the event
- Have people come back and attempt to summarize their memory
The results of repeated recall suggests that these memories can be ___________
Inaccurate
What makes a flashbulb memory special?***
We are CONVINCED they are accurate, but their accuracy depletes normally
What is narrative rehearsal hypothesis?
Repeated viewing/hearing of event; could produce inaccuracy in own memories
Memory= What actually happened + __________________________
Top-down processing (What we know, experiences, and expectations)
Source memory
Process of determining origins of our memories
Source monitoring error/Source misattributions
Misidentifying source of memory
Cryptomnesia
Unconscious plagiarism of another’s works due to a lack of recognition of its original source
What was Jacoby et Al’s “Becoming Famous Overnight” experiment?
Two groups (immediate test group and delayed test group)
1. Read Non famous names
2. Read a list of famous and nonfamous names and were asked to pick out the famous names
What did the “Becoming Famous Overnight” experiment explain?
The source misattribution error; A GAP OF 24 HOURS IS ENOUGH FOR SOURCE MISATTRIBUTION TO WORK*****
Bartlett’s “War of the Ghosts” experiment
Had participants attempt to remember a story from a different culture; exemplified repeated reproduction
What were the results of the War of the Ghost experiment?
Over time, reproduction became shorter and inaccurate; THE STORY WAS CHANGED TO MAKE THE STORY MORE CONSISTENT WITH THEIR OWN CULTURE***
What is the Illusory Truth Effect?
Enhanced probability of evaluating a statement is true after repeated presentation
Why does the Illusory Truth Effect occur?
Occurs due to fluency or familiarity with the information; related to propaganda effect
Pragmatic Inferences
Based on knowledge gained through experience
Memory can be influenced by __________________________________ make based on their experiences and knowledge
inferences that people
What is the list example of the pragmatic inferencing?
Putting words like rest, tired, awake, dream, and nap
Then testing asked if the word sleep was there.
What is schema?
Knowledge about some aspect of the environment; What does the inside of a post office look like?
What is script?
The conception of the sequence of actions that usually occurs during a particular experience; Going to a restaurant
Schemas and scripts can influence__________
Memory
Memory can include information not actually experienced but ___________ because it is consistent with the _________
inferred; schema
What are the advantages of constructive natures of memory? (2)
- It allows us to “fill in the
blanks” in memory - Cognition is very creative
What are the disadvantages of constructive natures of memory?
Sometimes we inaccurately fill in the blanks
The misinformation effect
Presenting misleading information after an event can change how someone describes an event
Misleading Postevent Information (MPI)
Being given information can lead to a change in memory of an event that someone directly witnessed
Loftus “smashed or hit” experience
Participants saw a video of a car accident. The way that questions were asked changed the participant’s idea of the speed they were going.
Like other memory, ________________________________________ can be innacurate
eyewitness testimony
