Laney et al memory Flashcards
Background
Human memory has been previously distorted with negative and neutral false memories. This research focuses on implanting positive false memories
Overall aim 1 (can be)
To investigate whether positive false memories can be implanted into people then change their childhood memories of liking asparagus
Overall aim 2 (effect)
To investigate the consequences of implanting positive false memories in terms of the effect it has on liking asparagus and choosing asparagus
What the ppts thought the aim was
Food preferences and how it affects personality
Expectation
People would have an increased confidence in liking asparagus
IV
manipulation of liking asparagus
Operationalise the IV
by the computer generated profile that was given to participants a week after.
DV
scores on various questionnaires
Method
Lab experiment, questionnaires
Psych investigated
People’s memories can be incorrect so if researchers can reconstruct memories by filling in gaps with false info, will ppts believe it?
How was the false memory implanted?
by giving false feedback suggesting that they had loved to eat asparagus as children
What are false memories
5
- People’s memories of events in their own life can be incorrect
- These false details can be added to a person’s memory storage system
- From all the stored information, people can reconstruct memories
- They fill in the gaps
- Then new memories are formed that contains incorrect information
Explain the FHI (3)
- 24 items
- 8-point scale
- included ‘loved asparagus the first time you tried it’
Explain the RQ (4)
- looks like a menu
- 32 items
- 8-point scale
- scale is from definitely no to definitely yes
Explain the FPQ (3)
- 62 items
- 8-point scale
- scale is from 1- definitely don’t like to eat to 8- definitely like to eat
Explain the FCQ (3)
- 21 food items
- how much they’d be willing to pay for a food items at a grocery store
- asparagus included
Explain the MBQ
- has three answer options:
‘have specific memory’
‘belief that it happened’
‘positive that it didnt happen’
What were the three filler questionnaires
personality, social desirability and eating habit questionnaire
Difference between control and love group
Control did not receive the asparagus feedback
Memories def
specific structured units that may be quite detailed
Beliefs def
less specific and less tied to time and place
How does this experiment differ from rich false memory studies?
2
- Uses positive false memories and not neutral or negative false memories
- Explores consequences of implantation whereas other studies stop after false memory implantation
Exp 1 sample size
128
Exp 1 sample locale
undergrads from University of California
Exp 1 sample mean age
20.8 years
Exp 1 sample gender distribution
mostly female (77%)
Exp 1 Allocation to groups (number and how )
random allocation to the groups. 63 in love and 65 in control
Exp 1 Order of questionnaires given
FHI
RQ
filler questionnaires
Elaboration
FHI
RQ
FPQ
FCQ
MQ
After how long did ppts return
one week
false feedback was disguised as
computer generated profile of food-preferences
why were the FHI and RQ repeated?
to compare pre- and post- manipulation
why were FPQ and PCQ repeated?
To asses the consequences of the positive false memory implantation
How many participants were excluded from the study cause they already liked asparagus
Exp 1 31
Exp 2 30
Exp 1 FHI result
love group - mean increase of 2.6 points
control group- mean increase of 0.2 points
Exp 1 MBQ result love group
22% memory
35% belief
44% no memory
Exp 1 MBQ result control group
12% memory
28% belief
61% no memory
Believers met which two criteria
- Low rating in session one of FHI and high rating in session two of FHI
- High score in MBQ
Exp 1 Believers result in MBQ
increase of 4.5
Exp 1 Non-believers result in MBQ
increase of 0.9
Exp 1 number of believers
2 males and 20 females
Exp 2 Aim 1 (rep..)
To replicate and extend the findings of Exp.1
Exp 2 Aim 2 (cons..)
To test the consequences of implanting false memories
Exp 2 Aim 3 (visu..)
To examine possible underlying mechanisms of false memories by looking at whether the sight of asparagus is more appealing to people after the false manipulation about asparagus.
Exp 2 Sample size
103
Exp 2 Sample locale
Undergrad students from University of Washington
Exp 2 Sample mean age
19.9
Exp 2 Sample gender distribution
62% were female
Exp 2 Sample incentive?
Given course credits for participating
Exp 2 Order of questionnaires
FHI, FPQ, RQ
Two filler questionnaires
Elaboration exercise
Slides
RQ, FPQ, FHI
MBQ
Why was a photograph rating used in Exp 2?
it provides a first step towards assessing the underlying mechanisms associated with false memory consequences
What were participants told upon arrival at the lab
subjects were told that their data would be entered into a computer that would generate a profile based on their answers
Why did they choose asparagus in the study?
Because it’s a food that children don’t usually like
Exp 2 FHI results
Love increase of 2.5
Conctrol increase of 1.1
Exp 2 MBQ results love group
28% memory
28% belief
45% no memory
Exp 2 MBQ results control
6% memory
38% belief
56% none
Exp 2 Number of believers
21
Exp 2 Photo ratings result
no stats
Believers rated the asparagus photo as more appealing and less disgusting than the controls
Exp 2 FPQ result
no stats
Believers demonstrated more preference towards asparagus than controls
Exp 2 RQ result
no stats
Neither believers’ nor controls’ ratings changed significantly from pre to postmanipulation
Example of a negative memory
I don’t like asparagus
Ethics broken
deception , right to withdraw
usefulness (4)
- clinical treatment of phobias
- can help develop healthier eating habits
- increase food aversions
- can show how expert witness may be false
How were demand characteristics reduced? (5)
- use of deception
- use of foil questionnaires
- social desirability scale to test if people filled and had bias
- exclusion of non-believers
- asparagus related items were never presented in isolation
How long did each day’s procedures take
half an hour
Exp 2 How long was each slide displayed for
30 seconds
Photo rating conclusion
The results show that the mere sight of the critical item, asparagus, in a photograph is sufficient to induce some people to rate asparagus more positively
Implantation conclusion
It is possible to implant false beliefs and flase memories for a positive childhood experience such as liking or loving asparagus the first time that one tried it
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Consequence conclusion
The implanted false memories have behavioural consequences suhc as self-reported preference for asparagus, willingness to spend more for asparagus and increased willingness to eat asparagus in a restaurant
Methodological problem if children were used (2)
- Questionnaires may have had difficult to understand terminology e.g sauteed asparagus
- Aim was about childhood memory before the age of 10. This would not be possible if children were used
Real word application
- if a child is a fussy eater, the parent/ feeder can say that they ‘have always liked fruit’ and child will change their views of food
Why was RQ not able to measure likelihood of eating certain foods accurately (2)
- 0 to 8 ratings are subjective
- what people may answer may not mirror what they actually think
Weakness about questionnaires
Some questionnaires had fixed choice options thus this many not represent what the ppts really think. E.g the FPQ had 7 choices but in reality not one of them could represent what a ppt would pay for the item
Generalisable?
No, all similar age, all undergrad students
