Week 6

Question 1

Compare and contrast the 3 acounts of reminiscence bump

Answer 1

• Self-image hypothesis - sense of identity contributes to understanding
• Cognitive hypothesis -When we are in our 20s, lots of things are changing (career, school, living, relationships) a lot of novelty we are experiencing, so the brain is very stimulated and interested in all of these things that are happening, so the reminiscence bump will occur during this time
• Cultural Life Script Hypothesis - Before we ever experience anything, there are certain things that we are taught that we are supposed to experience during our lifetimes. We spend so much of our lives anticipating what gonna happen at this time, so once we get there, we are paying attention to it and processing it on a deeper level

Question 2

What parts of the brain are important for emotional memory ?

Answer 2

Hippocampus and amygadala

Question 3

Are all aspects of emotional experiences remembered well ?

Answer 3

No, not all aspects of emotiona experiences are remembered
* negative emotional scences did not remember the colour of the border but did remember colour for neutral and postive scences but did not remember photo

Question 4

What does research say about the memorability of flashbulb memories ?

Answer 4

• People are quite confident in their flashbulb memories
• These flashbulb memories can be fake
• Flashbulb memories can change
• The level of detail people come up with goes down as a function of time

Question 5

Name two pieces of evidence inidicating that memorization abilities and autobiographical memory are different from one another

Answer 5

• neuroimaging - different areas of the brain were activated for memorization abilties (lab based) and autobiographical memory (moments in our life)
• memory ability - you either have a great autobiographical memory OR great memorization abilities, you can’t have both at the same time

Question 6

Name 6 examples that demonstrate constructive nature of human memory

Answer 6

• Perspective - first person or third person
• Cultural influence - cultural experiences can shape what our memories look like; study on British undergrad students
• Pragmatic inferences - reaching a conclusion based off what they saw
• Schematic knowledge - We create an image in our minds of where things are typically found, even if we never saw them in the first place
• Script knowledge - Step-by-step processes of how things usually work; state something was there even though it wasn’t since it matches our script
• Spreading activation - Things that are highly related seem to be stored close together

Question 7

What did Loftus and colleagues find using the misinformation paradigm ?

Answer 7

Found that details are changed without people realizing, they receive a memory test and are asked to recall if they have seen the images or not ; More likely to report seeing yield sign if asked about it!

Question 8

What did Loftus and Palmer learn abour suggestibility in memory ?

Answer 8

• Their estimates are different, simple suggestions for asking people to think about their memories.
• More likely to report seeing yield sign if asked about it even though it was not there
• This can occur from personal past experiences; Issues for Therapy
• misinformation can easy manipulate someone’s memory
• The more we imagine something, the more likely we are to misremember experiencing that thing

Question 9

What 4 techniques can be used to improve the accuracy of eyewitness line-ups ?

Answer 9

• Should inform witness that suspect may not be in the line up
• Should use fillers similar to suspect
• Should present individuals sequentially rather than simultaneously
• Should use “blind” adniministrator