Reconstructing the Past

Question 1

Define: memory

Answer 1

-the capacity to retain and retrieve information, and also the structures that account for its capacity

Question 2

Memory is selective. If it were not…

Answer 2

-our minds would be cluttered with mental junk

Question 3

Recovering a memory is like…

Answer 3

-watching a few unconnected frames and figuring out what the rest of the scene must have looked like

Question 4

Who was the 1st scientist to describe memory as a reconstructive process?

Answer 4

-Sir Frederic Bartlett

Question 5

How do we make sense of complex material?

Answer 5

-we typically alter it to make sense of the complex material, based to what we know or think we know

Question 6

How is a memory reconstructed?

Answer 6

-one often takes bits and pieces from other sources of information to build one integrated account

Question 7

What is… the inability to distinguish an actual memory of an event from information you learned about the event elsewhere

Answer 7

-source misattribution

Question 8

Define: flashbulb memory

Answer 8

a personally experienced…
-shocking or tragic event
-exhiliratingly happy event
…that holds a special place in your memory

Question 9

How long can flashbulb memories last for?

Answer 9

-years, even decades

Question 10

Remembering is an _______ process.

Answer 10

-active

Question 11

Why are flashbulb memories not always complete or accurate?

Answer 11

• we typically remember the “gist” of a startling emotional event
• over time, errors can creep into details and “gist” may be forgotten
• facts tend to get mixed with a little fiction

Question 12

Because memory is reconstructive, it is subject to ______________.

Answer 12

-confabulation

Question 13

Define: confabulation

Answer 13

• confusion of an event that happened to someone else with one that happened to you
• or a belief that you remember something when it never actually happened

Question 14

Confabulations are especially likely when…

Answer 14

• you have thought, heard, or told others about the event many times
• the image of the event contains many details that make it feels real
• the event is easy to imagine

Question 15

What is imagination inflation?

Answer 15

-when your imagination inflates your belief that an actual event occured

Question 16

You are more likely to add details to an imagined event….

Answer 16

-the longer you think about it

Question 17

If imagining an event takes little effort, we tend to think….

Answer 17

-the memory is real

Question 18

When it takes effort to form an image of an experience…

Answer 18

-we tend to believe the event never took place, or that we were never there

Question 19

Innaccuracy in memories can occur…

Answer 19

• when you first form a memory

- when you retrieve a memory

Question 20

Can false memories be as stable over time as true ones?

Answer 20

-yes