reconstructive memory Flashcards
what are schemas?
- cognitive plans/scripts that are built up using experiences about everyday life, affects processing of information
how do schemas influence memory?
- new knowledge that conflicts with existing schema might fail to be encoded
- when you later try and recall the memory, only recall elements that fit with the relevant schema
what is assimilation?
- making new information fit with your existing understanding of the world
what is accommodation?
- new information causes you to change your existing schemas
what is rationalisation?
- reasoning about what happened so it makes sense to you
what is confabulation?
- unconsciously filling in any gaps in recall with previous experiences
what is simplification?
- simplifying the story by removing parts that dont fit into schemas
what is reconstructive memory?
- an active process
- highlights how recall is affected by previous experiences and highlights importance of schemas
summarise the procedure of bartletts war of the ghosts study
- 20 students shown a native american story with unusual features
- recalled after hours,days,weeks and even years
- serial reproduction design
- compared reproduced versions to the original
how did participants in the war of the ghosts study use rationalisation and simplification?
- rationalisation = didnt grasp the role of the ghosts so described it as a battle between native american tribes
- simplification = story became shorter each time, after 6 sessions it reduced from 330 to 180
what was the opposing study of wynn and logie?
- asked uni students to recall their first week several times throughout the year
- accuray of descriptions remained the same each time
- memories for familiar events doesnt change over time
what is the opposing study of Yuille and Cutshall?
- witnesses of a real life crime who had observed a gun shooting in vancouver
- 13 interviewed after crime and 4 months later
- 2 misleading questions asked
- leading questions had little effect 10/13 accounts didnt change or recall misleading information
how can you evaluate bartletts study for task validity?
- low
- not usually asked to remember and recall a random story
why may other theories such as flashbulb memories be better?
- reconstructive memory doesnt tell us how memory is reconstructed
what did bartlett do that improves the reliability of his theory?
- repeated his study using 8 different stories on different participants
- same overall general shortening, transformation and omission
what is an application with dementia patients ?
- validation therapy
- go with the schemas that the patient has as it is less distressing
what is an application regarding EWT?
- devlin report = shouldnt be a conviction on EWT alone as it is inaccurate
how can schemas be used to explain false memories (example case)?
- John Menezes mistaken for a terrorist and shot by the police after the london bombing
- many eyewitnesses saw the shooting but recollections were widely different and often exaggerated
- schemas about appearance and behaviour of terrorists may have sharpened memories
what is the supporting study of loftus and palmer?
- 45 students watched a short film of a car accident
- asked to give speed estimates and asked leading questions
- smashed = 40 mph, hit = 34 mph
what is the supporting study of cordua et al?
- 128 five and six yr old shown films featuring male and female doctors and nurses
- asked questions for recall
- if seen a female doctor and male nurse they tended to report the genders the other way around
what is a weakness about schemas?
- unfalsifiable theory lacks credibility as there is no scientific evidence for this form of memory
is the theory reductionist?
- yes because memory processing is more complex than this
what is a weakness of loftus and palmer study?
- the experiment is artificial and lacks task validity
- watching a car crash on film will not provoke the same emotional response
