Real-world Memory Performance

Question 1

Autobiographical Memory? In the lab, can disentangle episodic/semantic memory BUT….

Answer 1

In real life, memory systems work together

Autobiographical memory:
Memory for specific experiences of our life
- Both episodic and semantic memory involved
- Multidimensional; sensory, spatial, conceptual, emotional

Question 2

Autobiographical Memory study?

Participants viewed photos taken by:
– Themselves (autobiographical)
– Someone else (non-autobiographical)

Viewed again days later (along with new photos) in the MRI scanner

Answer 2

Both types of photos activated similar brain structures
– Medial temporal lobe (MTL) (episodic)
– Parietal cortex (processing of scenes)

Autobiographical photos activated more of the Hippocampus & Prefrontal cortex

Question 3

Memory for Historically Significant Events?

Answer 3

Some events seem to be remembered in detail by many people
– September 11, 2001
– June 25, 2009 (Michael Jackson died)

People remember where they were & what they were doing when they heard the news
-> “Flashbulb Memories”

Question 4

Flashbulb Memories?

Answer 4

(Not actual memory of the event itself)

Autobiographical memory of how one found out about the event

Originally proposed by Brown & Kulik (1977)
- Argued significant events are recorded in great detail like a photograph
- But this is not the case: “flashbulb” memories are just as prone to inaccuracy as normal memories

Question 5

Narrative Rehearsal Hypothesis?

Answer 5

Flashbulb memories aren’t special, we just recall them often

Study results suggest peoples memories were affected by subsequent events (like lots of TV coverage)

Question 6

Flashbulb Memories - Still not clear exact mechanism that
makes flashbulb memories stand out…?

Answer 6

May be any combination of higher vividness, emotional facilitation, retrieval practice, many retrieval cues, etc.

But people have high confidence in their flashbulb memories

Question 7

Memory is Constructed? Advantages and Disadvantages?

Answer 7

Memory is not just recored, it changes!

Advantages:
- We have coherent memories, despite gaps
- We can update older memories

Disadvantages:
- Sometimes we make omissions or alterations
- Sometimes we misattribute the source
- Sometimes we remember things that never happened

Question 8

Source Monitoring, Source monitoring error, & Cryptomnesia?

Answer 8

Process of determining the origins of our memories, knowledge, or beliefs
- Can we tell the difference between something we actually observed or just heard about?

Source monitoring error:
Misidentifying the source of a memory (aka source misattribution)

Cryptomnesia:
Unconscious plagiarism

Question 9

The Illusory Truth Effect?

Answer 9

People are more likely to believe something is true after heated presentation

Beliefs may be influenced by frequency of encounte, propaganda effect

Question 10

War of the Ghosts Experiment?

Answer 10

• Had participants attempt to remember a story from a different culture
• Repeated reproduction to test memory

Over time…
- Story got shorter (omissions)
- Rationalizations: details were shaped to be more consistent with participants’ culture

Results suggest memory for the story changed to fit with participants; understanding of the world

Question 11

Making Inferences?

Answer 11

Memory systems efficiently fill gaps in memory bi inferences based on:

Pragmatic inferences: Based on knowledge gained though experience

Schemas:
knowledge about some aspect of the environment

Scripts:
Conception of sequence of actions that usually occurs during a particular experience

Question 12

The Misinformation Effect & Misleading postevent information?

Answer 12

Information received after witnessing an event changes memory of the event
– Misleading postevent information (MPI)

Question 13

Errors due to attention and arousal? Weapons focus

Answer 13

Weapons focus: attention can be narrowed by specific stimuli

Shooting decreases details recalled

Question 14

Confidence in Memory - Post-identification feedback effect?

Answer 14

Increase in confidence after making an identification

View video of crime ->
Pick perp from photo spread ->
Conforming feedback / No feedback / Disconfirming feedback

Question 15

What is being done for lineups?

Answer 15

• Inform witness that perpetrator might not be in lineup
• Use “fillers” in lineup similar to suspect
• “Blind” administrator
• Have witnesses rate their confidence immediately

Question 16

Cognitive interview?

Answer 16

1. Interview the observers at the crime scene or have them imagine that they are back at the crime scene witnessing the event
2. Have witnesses report EVERYTHING that they can recall, even aspects that are incomplete or din’t make sense
3. Have the observer recount the events in different sequences: “what happened next?”, but also, “what happened just before that?”