reconstructive memory Flashcards
who proposed the theory of reconstructive memory?
Bartlett
what is effort after meaning?
the theory that people do not passively record memories as exact copies of new information they receive but actively try to make sense of it in terms of what they already know
what is retrieval of memory influenced by?
our perception, our beliefs, past experience, cultural factors and the context in which we are recalling the information.
due to what factors can memory change during storage, processing and retrieval?
schema processing
who was the first person to research the reliability of eyewitness testimonies?
Elizabeth Loftus
what are two things that can influence ones recollection of events in a courtroom?
leading question
post-event information
what are leading questions?
suggestive question that aim to get a specific answer
what are post event information?
information given after the formation of the initial formation of the memory
what are two limitations of the theory of reconstructive memory?
schema theory does not explain how memory is reconstructed
high internal validity and low ecological validity
what are two strengths of the theory of reconstructive memory?
applied to eyewitness testimonies
it allows us to predict the future, update our beliefs and be creative
what are two studies investigating reconstructive memory?
Loftus and Palmer (1974)
Yuille and Cutshall (1986)
what was the aim of Loftus and Palmer?
investigate whether the use of leading questions would affect the estimation of speed
what were the five different words in Loftus and Palmer?
hit
collided
bumped
smashed
contacted
what were the results of Loftus and Palmer?
highest condition was smashed with around 40 mph
the lowest was contacted with around 21 mph
what was the aim of the follow up study to Loftus and Palmer?
investigate whether memory can be influenced by post-event information
what were the two conditions on the follow up study of Loftus and Palmer?
smashed
hit
what were the results of the the follow up study of Loftus and Palmer?
Participants who were asked the ‘smashed’ question were more likely to report having seen broken glass.
what are four strengths of Loftus and Palmer and their follow up study?
confounding variables are controlled
establishes cause and effect
easily replicated
cross cultural
what are four limitations of Loftus and Palmer and their follow up study?
lab experiment- low ecological validity
lacks population validity - hard to generalize
watching a video of a car crash doesn’t take into account of the emotion of actually seeing a car crash
what was the aim of Yuille and Cutshall?
The aim of the study was to determine whether leading questions would affect the memory of eyewitnesses at a real crime scene
what were the two leading questions in Yuille and Cutshall?
Half the group was asked if they saw a broken headlight on the getaway car.
In fact, there was no broken headlight.
The other half of the group was asked if they saw a yellow panel on the car (the panel was actually blue).
what were the results of Yuille and Cutshall?
they found eyewitness were actually very reliable
10 out of 13 of them said there was no broken headlight or yellow quarter panel, or that they had not noticed those particular details.
The researchers found that the accuracy of the witnesses compared to the original police reports was approximately 80%.
what is one strength of Yuille and Cutshall?
they used the police reports and the original eyewitness testimonies to confirm the accuracy of the memories
what were three limitations of Yuille and Cutshall?
not replicable and not able to be generalize
no control of variables
deception
participants could have been highly motivated
