The Role of Schemas & The Fallibility of Memory - Chapter 7

Question 1

Schemas (Memory Construction)

Answer 1

• Organized categories
  of information that get activated by an event, object, or idea
  
  • Mental ‘shortcuts’ that
    guide expectations and
    memory
  • Supplements incomplete
    memories and helps us
    avoid confirming the
    obvious
  • Contribute to stereotypes

Question 2

Constructive Memory (Constructing Memories)

Answer 2

• We first recall a generalized shema and then add in specific details as needed
  
  • Schema-consistent vs Schema-inconsistent

Question 3

Memory Errors

Answer 3

Errors in memory tend to make recall schema-consistent

Question 4

Misinformation Effect (False memories)

Answer 4

• Happens when information occurring
  after an event becomes part of the memory for that event
  
  • Staged car accidents and leading questions

Question 5

Misinformation and the Legal System

Answer 5

• Jury instructions
• Children are particularly
  susceptible to the
  misinformation effect

Question 6

False Memories

Answer 6

• DRM procedure
  
  • Recall of ‘critical lure’
• Intrusion errors:
  
  • Errors in which other knowledge intrudes into a remembered event

Question 7

Imagination Inflation (False Memories)

Answer 7

• Increased confidence in a false memory due to repeated imagination of the event

Question 8

False Memories (Research)

Answer 8

1. Researchers obtained
   real childhood pictures
   from participants’
   families
2. Real photo ‘doctored’ to
   create new event
3. Researchers interviewed
   participants about real
   and doctored photos

Question 9

Reality Monitoring Errors (False Memories)

Answer 9

The inability to distinguish between memories for events that have actually occurred and memories
for imagined events

Question 10

Re-Constructive Memory

Answer 10

Integrating a new memory
into our existing ‘library’ of
connected ideas can both
help and hinder memory
retrieval