Reconstructive Memory Flashcards
Reconstructive Memory
Fragments of stored info are reassembled during recall. The gaps are filled in by our expectations and beliefs so that we can produce a story that makes sense.
Schema
Mental framework of beliefs and expectations that influence cognitive processing. Born with schemas but develop with complexity of the world.
Bartlett 1932 view
Memories are not reproductions but reconstructions.
Bartlett 1932 View Expanded
- Saw memory as an active process where we store fragments of info.
- We build these fragments into a meaningful whole when we want to remember things.
- Result is that some things are missing, distorted and memory is not completely accurate.
War of Ghosts Study
- Bartlett showed British participants a story from native American culture so it was unfamiliar.
War of Ghosts Study Procedure
- Told them to reproduce the story 15 mins later, Bartlett showed new one to another person and repeated this chain.
- This is serial reproduction.
What did Bartlett find from War of Ghosts study?
- Found that story was transformed over time e.g became shorter through omissions.
- Phrases altered to match participants own culture (rationalisations).
- Reconstructions were not random and had effect of making story more conventional, coherent and meaningful to the participant.
Schema Theory
What we remember is governed by our schemas.
During everyday experiences the relevant schema is activated e.g school schema.
Allows us to process info about the situation more efficiently by making guesses about what the situation will be like based on past experiences.
How can Schemas be changed? - Schema Theory
By new knowledge and experiences.
How do Schemas influence memory?
The two ways are:
- What you encode/store.
- What you retrieve.
New knowledge that conflicts with an existing schema could fail to to be encoded. Does not fit with expectations so it isn’t registered in memory.
When later recalled you only recall the elements that fit with relevant schema, other elements are forgotten.
How do Schemas influence memory? - War of Ghosts
foreign nature meant that large parts of it did not fit the British participants’ view of the world (schemas). When this occurred memories were distorted, left details out, and familiar ones were elaborated to fill gaps.
Strength - Realistic Research
Based on realistic research.
Psychologists investigated memory using artificial materials to be learned (random syllables). Artificial because we rarely use memories for them.
Social origins of memory are obscured in artificial research. Bartlett’s findings and theories are more relevant to real life.
Competing - Realistic Research
- Bartletts research did not use controlled methods and lacked objectivity.
- No standardised instructions making Participants experiences inconsistent so hard to compare reproductions.
- Evidence for reconstructive memory lacks reliability and validity.
Weakness
It is wrong to suggest all memories are inaccurate or affected by schemas.
Other studies show memory can be very accurate, like in situations that are personally important.
In war of the ghosts people recalled ‘something black came out of his mouth’ because it was unusual.
Shows people may actively reconstruct memories or when they do they can be highly accurate.
Application to EWT
Theory can explain problems in EWT.
Someone might swear they saw someone at the crime scene and then later evidence challenged this.
B’s theory showed that memory can be affected by our schemas.
Loftus and Palmer show that people do not always accurately recall what they see and hear.
Consequence is that no convictions are now based on EWT as it’s not trustworthy.
