false memories (lecture 4 verde) Flashcards
what are varieties of episodic memory?
-familarity feeling of recognition without specific details
-recollection recall of specific episodic details or associations
what are examples of false memories?
false familiarity
deja vu - feeling that you’ve done or experienced something before
what are autobiographical memories?
a form of reliving the past, like real experiences live through memory
-Tulving claimed it to be like time travel & unique to humans
what plays a role in autobiographical memories?
sensory details
-ability to ring to mind these details contribute to the experience of recollection
-trust recollection as offers evidence of the past than a feeling of familiarity
what did Nickerson & Adams 1979 find?
-accuracy of recollection is not what we think
-ppts attempted to draw the US penny and only 1 in 6 could identify the correct version
what is recollection?
-reconstruction
memory is often fragmented and incomplete
-Put together the pieces in ways that make sense.
● Fill in the missing information.
The reconstructive process leads to a subjectively “realistic” and “complete” experience of the past.
This experience feels real…
but it may not be accurate.
why does false recollection happen?
-source monitoring errors
-influence of post event information
-beliefs and stereotypes
what is source monitoring?
-placing a memory in its proper context
-mistake about context, time or place leads to errors -> false recollection
when is source monitoring more likely happen?
-when potential sources are similar
what did Levy-Gigi & Vakil 2014 find?
ppts studied two stories, each containing 15 different critical objects. Perceptual match of Story 2 to Story 1 was similar or dissimilar.
found higher false recollection in similar compared to dissimilar source
how can post event information lead to false recollection?
information encountered after an event can influence memory for that event
-can be due to source monitoring errors
what did Lindsay et al 2004 study & find?
Participants saw an illustrated story of a man searching house for gold coin (and encountering various objects).
-Later read another story about the same man searching the house.
The 2nd story contained object not seen in the 1st story.
how can beliefs and stereotypes affect false recollection?
encourage false elaboration or recollection of false details
-Inferences more likely when memory is degraded (e.g. due to the passage of time) or when time and attention are in short supply
what did Allport & Postman 1947 find?
ppts Described scene to another (who described scene
to another, etc).
Half of the people at the end of the chain described black man as holding a razor.
what did Sherman & Bessenoff 1999 find?
Studied two lists of behaviours
List 1: Created by Experimenter
List 2: Self-descriptive behaviours created by either:
A) Skinhead (negative stereotype) B) Priest (positive stereotype)
Example behaviours
Neutral: Bought a new shirt
Negative: Shoved his way to seat in cinema
Positive: Gave a stranger money
what did Kleider et al 2008 do?
“Housewife” & “Handyman” performed various activities consistent or inconsistent with stereotype
how do our beliefs in the present shape our memory of the past?
Snyder & Uranowitz (1978)
Read a case history of “Betty K” describing the events and people in her life from birth through university.
Later told either:
lesbian label and heterosexual label
-Depending on label, selectively remembered (or misremembered) details consistent with stereotypes.
-Later learning about her implied sexuality influenced how people remembered (or misremembered) details of Betty’s life.
how do we know memory is real?
its associated with realistic imagery and details
what did Horselenberg et al 2000 do?
Life Event Inventory (LEI)
Did these things happen to you as a child?
* “Broke a window with my hand”
* “Found a silver ring”
Rate confidence that this event happened to you.
After completing LEI, imagery task.
Imagery Task:
You’re playing outside. Your mother just told you that dinner will be ready soon.
With whom are you playing? Is it evening?
As you are playing outside, your attention is attracted by a glistening object lying on the ground. You pick it up. It’s a beautiful silver ring.
how does imagination effect false recollection?
● creates a memory of the imagined event.
● incorporates imagery and detail into the memory,
making it feel realistic
● memories of imagined events
mistaken for actually
experienced events
(source monitoring errors)
-imagination and source monitoring errors can lead to realistic and complex false memories
what did Wade et al 2000do?
Relatives provided photograph of subject as child.
* Doctored photograph created of balloon ride.
(subject never rode balloon).
Study about childhood reminiscence
“tell me everything you can remember”
* Three interviews (3-7 days apart)
During interviews, used guided imagery to help remember
“close eyes, picture being in the hot air balloon
what were the results of wade et al 2000?
-False recollection increased over time
-picture is “proof” to encourage
acceptance and belief
“the doctored photograph was accepted as authoritative evidence that the false event had occurred and in doing so,
planted the seed of a false memory.”
“lowering subjects’ criteria for accepting feelings, thoughts, and images as memories will increase the rate of false recall.”
- doctored photo is a starting point
- guided imagery instructions
creates additional new memories
that are realistic
new memories are misattributed
to childhood event - repeatedly thinking about and
imagining event creates more
new memories, adds more details
to these memories, strengthens
these memories
“suggested” event can take qualities of real memory
through imagination, repetition, elaboration
how are false memories created?
-Imagined or Suggested events can take on the qualities of real memories through elaboration and repetition.
-False memories can be autobiographical and fairly complex, involving spontaneously produced details.
-False memories can be created for personal, recent events.
what are the limits of false memory creation?
Can you only create false memories of the distant past?
Memory reconstruction more likely when
memory is degraded or inaccessible…
what did Nash et al 2009 do?
-Session 1:
* Subject watched RA perform action, subject copied action
Recorded on video
* RA later performed actions alone
Doctored video of subject watching RA actions that
RA performed alone
-Session 2:
* Subject watched doctored video, or imagined performing
the action on the video, or both.
-Session 3:
Memory Test : 1) Believed they performed action
2) Remembered performing action
do false memories matter?
Bernstein, Laney, Morris, Loftus (2005)
Session 1
Food History Inventory (FHI):
* Got sick after eating strawberry ice cream
How confident are you that this happened?
Session 2
Based on earlier responses in FHI, “computer generated profile” about childhood eating history.
Some given false feedback:
“Got sick after eating strawberry ice cream”
Prompted to remember this event. If can’t remember, imagine what it must have been like.
“Where did it occur? What were you doing at the time?”
“Got sick after eating strawberry ice cream”
False memory or just belief?
When asked to give details about event:
- Tummy ache from too much ice cream.
- May have gotten sick from eating seven cups of ice cream.
- There wasn’t any other flavour, had to eat strawberry and didn’t like the taste.
