Reconstructing Memories Flashcards
Fallibility
Liability to be inaccurate or false.
Eyewitness testimony
An account of an event given by an individual who was present, based on their memory of the event. Many studies that show there is much error in eye witness testimony. Eye witness testimony has a large impact on a jury, and can lead to wrongful conviction.
Misinformation effect
A phenomenon in which the memory an individual has of an event can be changed through exposure to incorrect information after the event.
Presupposition
A preconceived notion or idea that tends to be a feature of leading questions and may influence the thoughts of an individual.
Source confusion
A phenomenon in which actual memories are combined with suggestions received from others.
Leading question
A question that prompts an individual to answer in a particular way. Courts, Teachers and Parents use leading questions.
Reconstructive nature of memory
Memory is fallible
• Memory is subject to personal interpretation it is dependent on a range of
factors including cultural norms, emotions and values.
• People store information in the way that makes the most sense to them
Eyewitness testimony often fails
When recalling the event, you are not recalling the original event, but your latest reconstruction of it. When asked to describe an event the witness will build on their own expectations, created by similar experiences from the past, from stories in books, film and on television, or even their own feelings at the time.
Example of leading and non leading question
> ‘Did you see the defendant running from the scene of the crime?’ suggests that the
defendant was at the scene.
‘Did you see anyone running from the scene of the crime?’ does not identify any
individual.
Loftus eyewitness testimony and information
Loftus’ research demonstrated that memorynis fallible. This means that it is susceptible to error. Memories can be reconstructed or changed to incorporate or leave out information. An example of memory reconstruction:
A memory of an event is encoded and stored in LTM. When that memory is retrieved misinformation can be incorporated and the new reconstructed memory is remembered as real.
Example of loftus
An eyewitness to a vehicle accident gives a statement on an accident between a blue and orange cars. The eyewitness is asked a leading question ‘was the yellow car speeding’. The witness will respond yes or no but because the memory is in working memory, it can be reconstructed to include the false information that the car was yellow. The reconstructed memory is stored in LTM. In future the eyewitness may falsely retrieve the information that the car was yellow.
