Module 8 - Everyday Memory and Memory Errors Flashcards
What is autobiographical memory? What are two key characteristics of autobiographical memory?
Autobiographical memory (AB memory) is memory for specific experiences in our life. It can include both episodic and semantic components.
Two key characteristics of AB memory are:
● They are multidimensional. They involve spatial components, sensory components (visual, auditory, taste, smell, and touch), and thoughts and emotions.
● People remember some events in their lives better than others. This could be due to the personal significance of the event, how emotional it was, and when in life it occurred.
What is the reminiscence bump? What are three hypotheses that explain the reminiscence bump?
The reminiscence bump is the finding that people over 40 tend to have better memory for events that occurred between the ages of 10 and 30 than for events that occurred outside of this time period.
Three hypotheses that attempt to explain the reminiscence bump are:
● Self-image hypothesis: Memory is enhanced for events that occur as a person’s self-image or life identity is being formed.
● Cognitive hypothesis: Periods of rapid change that are followed by stability cause stronger encoding of memories.
● Cultural life script hypothesis: Events in a person’s life story are easier to recall if they fit the cultural life script for that person’s culture.
What is the youth bias?
The youth bias is the tendency for the most notable public events in a person’s life to be perceived to occur when the person is young.
How does emotion affect memory?
Emotion is associated with better memory because:
● The amygdala, which is involved in processing emotions, is more active for emotional events.
● Emotion improves memory consolidation, due to the release of hormones like cortisol after an emotional experience.
What are flashbulb memories? What method is used to study them?
Flashbulb memories are memories for the circumstances surrounding shocking, highly charged events. They are not memories for the event itself.
The method used to study flashbulb memories is repeated recall. Repeated recall involves:
● Measuring memory immediately after a stimulus or event. This measurement is considered to be the most accurate representation of the memory.
● Having the person recall the memory again after various delay intervals. These later reports are then compared to the baseline measurement to check for consistency.
Are flashbulb memories like photographs? Are they accurate? What hypothesis explains flashbulb memories?
Research has shown that flashbulb memories are not like photographs, as they change over time, can be inaccurate, and may lack detail.
The narrative rehearsal hypothesis states that people remember significant events not because of a special memory mechanism but because they rehearse the events after they occur. Rehearsing an event, whether by thinking about it or telling others about it, can introduce errors into the memory.
What is the constructive nature of memory?
The constructive nature of memory states that memories are constructed based on a number of sources of information:
● What actually happened.
● A person’s knowledge.
● A person’s experiences.
● A person’s expectations.
What is source monitoring? What are source monitoring errors?
Source monitoring is the process of determining the origins of our memories, knowledge, or beliefs.
A source monitoring error (also called source misattribution) is misidentifying the source of a memory. For example, thinking that you learned something from a friend when you actually learned it from a TV show.
What is cryptomnesia?
Cryptomnesia is unconscious plagiarism of the work of others. This is a more extreme example of a source monitoring error.
What is the illusory truth effect? What causes this effect?
The illusory truth effect occurs when people are more likely to judge a statement as true upon repeated presentation. It is caused by fluency, the ease with which a statement can be remembered.
What are schemas? How do schemas affect memory?
Schemas are a person’s knowledge about some aspect of the environment. They develop through our experiences.
Schemas can influence memory by setting up expectations for what is likely to occur in a particular situation. For example, our schema for what a typical office looks like might lead us to falsely remember seeing books in an office, even if there weren’t any books present.
What are scripts? How do scripts affect memory?
A script is a type of schema that involves a conception of the sequence of actions that usually occur during a particular experience.
Scripts can influence memory by setting up expectations for the order in which events should occur. For example, our script for visiting the dentist might lead us to remember events in the wrong order, or even remember events that didn’t happen at all, if they are consistent with our script
What is the misinformation effect? How does source monitoring explain the misinformation effect?
The misinformation effect occurs when misleading information presented after a person witnesses an event can change how they later describe that event.
Source monitoring can explain the misinformation effect because a person might misattribute the source of their memory for the incorrect event. For example, if shown pictures of a car stopped at a stop sign, but later asked about a yield sign, the person may remember seeing a yield sign and misattribute the source of this memory to the pictures, when it actually came from the question they were asked.
What are some of the causes of errors in eyewitness testimony?
Causes of errors in eyewitness testimony include:
● Errors associated with perception and attention: Such as weapons focus, the tendency to focus attention on a weapon, resulting in a narrowing of attention and poorer memory for other details of the crime.
● Misidentifications due to familiarity: Witnesses can misidentify a perpetrator based on familiarity from some other context.
● Errors due to suggestion: Misleading questions or suggestive feedback from law enforcement officers can lead to errors.
What is the post-identification feedback effect?
The post-identification feedback effect is the increase in confidence due to confirming feedback after making an identification.
