unit 8 Flashcards
what is meant by error of omission
failure to bring to mind, leave out, block it out
what is transcience?
loss of info from memory across time
what is absentmindedness?
losing track of info, details, etc; trouble with the interface between attention and LTM
what is blocking?
failure to retrieve info in LTM; temporary loss of access to info
what is error of commission?
producing unwanted or inaccurate memories
what is persistence?
unwanted memories keep intruding
what is misattribution?
ascribing a memory to an incorrect source or context
what is suggestibility?
suggested info intrudes into memory
what is bias?
expectations, beliefs, and or feelings distort memory
what factors at encoding are likely to affect the accuracy of eyewitness memories?
perceptual factors & emotional stress
explain perceptual factor + give an example:
perceptual factor: quality of the viewing conditions, better conditions = better memory
ex: When witnessing a crime, if a bystander is highly distracted by loud noises or movement in their peripheral vision, their focus on the perpetrator’s details may be significantly reduced, leading to inaccurate recall of facial features or clothing descriptions due to the high “perceptual load” caused by the distractions
how does emotion/stress affect the quality of memory encoding?
emotional stress narrows attention
can help memory for central details
can hurt memory for peripheral info (color of clothing)
under stress is a person more likely to encode central details or peripheral details?
central details
at extremely high levels of stress, how will encoding be affected?
At extremely high levels of stress, encoding will be significantly impaired, meaning the ability to process and store new information into memory will be greatly reduced, as the brain prioritizes the stress response over memory formation.
what factors following initial encoding can affect the accuracy of eyewitness memories?
unconscious transference
misinformation effect
what is unconscious transference? give example.
transfer parts of memories onto one another
example: Imagine a witness at a crime scene who sees a suspect they don’t recognize. Later, when viewing a police lineup, they might pick someone who looks vaguely familiar but is actually a cashier they frequently see at their local grocery store - they unconsciously transferred their familiarity with the cashier to the suspect in the lineup, even though they are completely innocent
what is the misinformation effect? give example.
misleading/wrong info presented between encoding and recall can distract memory for the original event
example: An example of misinformation effect could be as simple as an eyewitness being asked: “Did you see the broken light” rather than “Did you see a broken light”. The first assumes there was a broken light and that influences the possibility of misinformation effect and the response from the eyewitness.
what is a simultaneous lineup?
all suspects in view at once
encourages witness to choose the most similar (relative judgement)
what is sequential lineup?
suspects one at a time
- better technique
-absolute judgement
which are better between simultaneous and sequential? Why?
sequential lineups are better for reducing false identification than simultaneous ones, as they minimize relative judgment.
what instruction should you give a witness when viewing a lineup?
encourage witness to choose the most similar
encourage witness to evaluate each for a match
should instruct witness that the real culprit may not appear in the lineup
what is a photo bias?
familiarity (due to having seen photo before) increases likelihood of choosing an individual from lineup
what are the risks for photo bias? how can we avoid it?
risk: previous exposure increases recognition errors
how to avoid: can be reduced by unbiased lineups
describe characteristics of a good lineup.
a suspect should not stand out
options should have equal probability
functional size = actual size
what are consequences of repeated questioning?
more likely to invent an answer the more they are asked
can cause memory distortion
is hypnosis considered a reliable interview technique
NO it is prone to distortions
what is the recommended interview technique?
cognitive interview:
- emphasis comfort of witness
- open-ended questions
-witness can describe events as they choose
-encourage reinstatement of appropriate cues
what sort of relationship exists between eyewitness confidence and memory accuracy?
a WEAK relationship, because should we trust a witness just because they are confident??
what is the optimality hypothesis? under what conditions is the relationship between confidence & accuracy likely to be stronger?
optimality hypothesis: the relationship between confidence and accuracy is stronger to the degree that the encoding, storage, and retrieval of the event occured under optimal conditions
what is DRM paradigm?
list of related words, but with a critical word left out.
example: for example, showing words like “bed,” “rest,” “nap,” and “dream” to induce a false memory of the word “sleep” which was never presented.
can false memories for childhood events be implanted?
YES
what is imagination inflation?
simply imagining an event increases the likelihood of believing that it actually occured
what is source monitoring?
reality monitoring -> did something really happen
what is source confusion?
helps account for several effects, misinformation, photo bias, some illusory memories
what is the social contagion effect?
memory influenced by others accounts, leading to shared false memories.
