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Cognitive 2 > False Memories > Flashcards

False Memories Flashcards

1
Q

what is everyday memory designed to do?

A

fulfil specific goals

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2
Q

what influences the specific goals that memory is designed to fulfil?

A

past experiences, history and culture; current motives and emotions; intelligence and personality traits; future goals and plans

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3
Q

how does memory serve interpersonal communication?

A

it is shared, exchanged, constructed, revised and elaborated

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4
Q

what is episodic memory?

A

memories for pronely experienced events. context specific (time and place). personal and subjective.

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5
Q

describe the recall of episodic memory

A

generative (instead of calling up stored data this can be modified)

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6
Q

what influences episode retrieval?

A

depth of original processing; cognitive state of the individual (ideally relaxed); context of retrieval/cues available

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7
Q

describe a study showing the effect of context on memory retrieval

A

Godden & Baddeley (1975). divers learn words on the ground or underwater. memory retrieval was improved when this was in the same environment as encoding

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8
Q

what is autobiographical memory?

A

hybrid between semantic and episode memory. facts and contextual memories about our lives.

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9
Q

describe a study showing the accuracy of autobiographical memory

A

Barclay, 1988. asked to keep diaries and to recognise which was the diary entry. high distractor item events derived from other incidents by the same subject. frequent errors in remembering details

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10
Q

what did Neisser (1988) say about autobiographical memory?

A

much of it is error free. reconstructions of past events incorporate info about the meaning of events to the person. self-schemata may mediate.

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11
Q

what are flashbulb memories?

A

type of autobiographical memory. very detailed and vivid. for events which are surprising and consequential.

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12
Q

describe Brown and Kulik (1997)’s study on false memories

A

ps asked what they remembered about major events eg. JFK assassination. 79/80 had clear memories of this. depends on personal relevance - 30/40 African Americans had FMs for assignation of martin luther king, compared to 13/40 white Americans

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13
Q

what is meant by ‘Phantom’ flashbulbs?

A

impact of time on forgetting details of flashbulb memories.

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14
Q

describe Neisser & Harsch’s 1992 study on ‘phantom’ flashbulbs

A

ps did questionnaire. day after challenge space shuttle exploded and 32 months later. accuracy of recall was 2.97/7. confidence in accuracy was 4.17

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15
Q

describe the nature of errors seen in McCloskey et al’s 1988 study on ‘phantom’ flashbulbs

A

45 ps did questionnaire within a week of challenger disaster. 27 did follow up. after 9 months, 4/27 did not remember. 7/27 gave 9 inconsistent responses

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16
Q

describe Winningham et al’s 2000 study on the effects of questioning

A

ps asked into about when they learnt of OJ Simpson’s acquittal, either 5 hours or 1 week after. then again 8 weeks after. consistency of memory high for delayed vs immediate group. indicate effect of consolidation time - reduces memory alteration

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17
Q

when does most forgetting occur?

A

in the first few days after an event. after this memory traces consolidate into a relatively permanent narrative account

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18
Q

describe THE SET UP of Talarico and Rubin’s 2003 study on whether flashbulb memories are special

A

ps tested on their mems of 9/11 the day after the attack. asked their mems of an ordinary event that happened around the same time. re-tested memories after either 1, 6 or 32 weeks.

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19
Q

describe the CONSISTENCY RESULTS of Talarico and Rubin’s 2003 study on whether flashbulb memories are special

A

higher for everyday vs flashbulb memories; both showed evidence of forgetting; no differences between types of memories in rate of forgetting

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20
Q

describe the BELIEF OF ACCURACY RESULTS of Talarico and Rubin’s 2003 study on whether flashbulb memories are special

A

high for both flashbulb and everyday memories, was higher for flashbulb memories, decreased more for everyday memories over time

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21
Q

describe the VIVIDNESS RESLULTS of Talarico and Rubin’s 2003 study on whether flashbulb memories are special

A

higher for flashbulb vs everyday memories; decreased more for everyday memories over time

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22
Q

describe Bonhannon et al’s 1988 study on flashbulb memories

A

ps who re-told challenger shuttle disaster more often had more detailed memory

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23
Q

describe Pezdek’s 2003 study on flashbulb memories

A

73% of respondents say they saw video of first plane hitting world trade centre on 9/11 - however this doesn’t exist

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24
Q

what is a false memory?

A

inaccurate recollections of events that did not occur, or distortions of events ht did occur

25
Q

how do inaccuracies in memories occur?

A

imagination inflation or demand characteristics

26
Q

describe imagination inflation

A

strengthening false memories through repeated retrieval

27
Q

describe demand characteristics’ effect on memories

A

we ‘create’ memories based prompting questions from the examiner

28
Q

describe Loftus and Pickrell’s 1995 study on falsely recalled memories

A

lost in the mall. read short narratives of childhood events (3 true, 1 false - mall). 25% ‘remembered’ false memory, however they had less detail/fewer words

29
Q

describe Wade et al’s 2002 study on falsely recalled memories from picture

A

ps shown pics of childhood events (3 real, 1 false - balloon ride). 50% created false memory

30
Q

what were the different strategies used in Shaw & Porter’s 2015 study on ‘did you commit this crime?”?

A

incontrovertible false evidence; social pressure; suggested retrieval techniques; building rapport

31
Q

describe Loftus & Palmer’s 1974 study on language during questioning

A

ps shown vids of car accidents. then asked q’s with different word. changed how they estimate speed, and whether they remember seeing broken glass a week later.

32
Q

describe Loftus et al’s 1978 study on the misinformation effect

A

30 slides of car accident - half say stop, half say yield. forced choice recognition of pairs of slides. 41% given misleading q

33
Q

what is retroactive interference?

A

info presented later interferes with ability to retain previously encoded info

34
Q

describe SET UP of Baym & Gonsalves’ 2010 study on false memories in the brain

A

photographic vignettes of common activities. later shown sentences describing photos. then surprise item memory recognition test for photographs

35
Q

describe RESULTS of Baym & Gonsalves’ 2010 study on false memories in the brain

A

greater activity in visual processing areas for true > false memories. forgetting in right frontal and bilateral medial temporal lobe

36
Q

describe the representativeness of participants in flashbulb and false memory studies

A

some ps in Brown & Kulik were 11/12 when JFK was assassinated - did they understand the impact? Loftus - students : driving experience?

37
Q

describe the ecological validity of lab studies?

A

ethical considerations for false memory studies. is viewing video/slides equivalent to ‘real world’ situations?

38
Q

describe critique of flashbulb memories (all recollections have a delay)

A

how do we know how accurate recollect is. ps vary in how much they discuss events. cannot be generated in the lab/not controlled

39
Q

what is eyewitness testimony?

A

legal term referring to an account given by people relating to a crime they have witnessed

40
Q

describe Bruce et al’s 1999 study on face recognition of CCTV images

A

shown target face from CCTV and asked to match it. when target face was present deleted 65% of time. when not present, another face selected 35% of time. 5 second clip as well did not improve recognition

41
Q

describe Jenkins et al’s 2011 study on variability in photos of the same face

A

20 images of 2 Dutch celebrities. ps asked to sort by identity. English: 7.5 mean identities. Dutch: 2 mean identities

42
Q

describe Simon and Chabris’s 2011 study on whether people think eyewitness testimony is reliable

A

75% of prosecutors think more confident eyewitnesses are more accurate. 37% of Americans believe the testimony of a single confident eyewitness should be enough to convict

43
Q

what is the leading cause of wrongful conviction in the USA?

A

eyewitness misidentification

44
Q

between 1989 and Jan 2019, DNA evidence has exonerated how many wrongly convicted individuals?

A

362 - more than 75% convicted based on evidence from mistaken eyewitness identifications

45
Q

what is the ‘weapon focus’?

A

when a gun is present during a crime, witness recall fo offender significantly reduced. can often describe the weapon in more detail than the person holding it - attentional narrowing.

46
Q

what is the effect of expectation on witness description of perpetrator?

A

described less accurately if they held an object consistent with the opposite gender rather than same gender stereotype (Pickel et al., 2009)

47
Q

describer Clifford and Scott’s 1978 study on the effect of anxiety/stress on memories

A

videos of violent/nonviolent incidents. witness of violent incidents recall less, regardless of whether a weapon was used

48
Q

what are two possible explanations for why witness of violent incidents recall less, regardless of whether a weapon was used

A

draw the focus of witnesses’ attention, reducing processing of peripheral info. increase anxiety and autonomic arousal, reducing memory encoding

49
Q

what is Yerkes-Dodson law?

A

increased arousal improves performance up to a point, after which performance declines

50
Q

describe Yuille & Cutshall’s 1986 study which shows discrepancy with the effect of stress on memories

A

gun shooting incident. analysed statement to police and research interview 4-5 months after. accuracy 80+% for both, highest for those with highest stress

51
Q

describe Payne et al’s 2006 study on the impact of stress on memory

A

induced into stressed/relaxed state. vowed slides of story (neutral/emotional). stress did not affect recall for emotional memories but decreased recall for neutral memories

52
Q

when retrieving eyewitness memories, recall is increased if the witness…

A

goes back over the scene to reinstate additional cues (context); is exposed to person’s face for long time (increased encoding); gives testimony soon after crime; habitually attends to their surrounding and generally forms vivid mental images (indiv diff); does not see the person’s face being altered by a disguise; thinks the person looks dishonest (schemas)

53
Q

what are leading questions?

A

questions which can provide info after the event that can be stored and affect the original memory

54
Q

when can witness testimony be affected by leading questions?

A

if the witness believes questioner knows what happened; if witness is unaware they my be misled; missing info relates to peripheral rather can central details of the events; misleading info is not obviously incorrect

55
Q

what is the familiarity effect?

A

eyewitnesses 3 times more likely to pick a bystander from a line-up than someone not seen before (Ross et al., 1994)

56
Q

what is the effect of age on eyewitnesses?

A

older adults much more likely to produce false memories after being given misleading info vs younger adults (43% vs 4%, Jacoby et al., 2005)

57
Q

what is the effect of gesturers on eyewitnesses?

A

ps saw video, then researchers asked them qs about it. if researcher stroked their chin, ps 3 times more likely to remember they had a bird (Gurney et al., 2013)

58
Q

describe the cognitive interview

A

used by police to try and elicit more accurate recall, based on psychological research into memory.

59
Q

what are the 4 strategies used in the cognitive interview to maximise recall/

A

mentally reinstating environment and personal context; reporting everything regardless of perceived importance; recounting events in different orders; reporting events from variety of perspectives to reduce bias

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