Psych 228 10 Everyday Memory

Autobiographical memory - Three layers (Conway, 1996)

- Describes that autobiographical memory has 3 layers of knowledge: Event-specific knowledge - individual events in a person's life that happens on a time scale of minutes or hours. (party night) General events - things that happen over days, weeks, or at the longest, months. Lifetime periods - span over many years. (college)

Source Misattribution (police lineup study; Ross et al, 1994)

- one group saw video of male teacher, one saw video of female teacher - both groups then saw the female teacher being robbed When the actual robber was not in the photo spread, subjects in the experimental group erroneously identified the male teacher as the robber 60% of the time. When the actual robber was in the photo spread, the male teacher was identified 18% of the time. Misattribution due to familiarity - They choose the male teacher because it looks similar to the robber than female teacher.

Explanations for Reminiscence bump

1) life-narrative hypothesis: personal identity is determined in those years 2) cognitive hypothesis: encoding is stronger in periods of rapid change (vs. stability)

social influence on false recall Nikita Salovich

Collaboratively view lists of words and recall taking turns with a partner Partner occasionally recalls incorrect words (either probable or less-probable) Post-test where we ask them to recall words (w/ R&K judgments) Higher reliance on false recalls when . . . Lures are more probable - (e.g., robin > duck) More pressure is induced Partner is perceived as competent

remember vs. know judgements Roediger & McDermott (1995):

Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) false memory paradigm Remember - specific recollection of a word and it's place in the list Know - feeling that word was on the list - but no specific memory of it

Neisser (2000) AGAINST flashbulb memories are special

FB memory reflects ordinary memory mechanisms compared participant recall of The Challenger Disaster after 2 days and 2 years. He then compared the two memories. Characterized by: - frequent narrative rehearsal - decay, inaccuracies - plausible distortions These types of memories are so vivid because the event is rehearsed and reconsidered in our mind and out loud after the event. Results All accounts or recollections of the event had changed over time, some were 'wildly inaccurate'

Talarico & Rubin (2003) post 9/11 study

Following 9/11 attacks - On Sept 12, asked about memories for Sept. 11 and for an ordinary event from Sept. 10 - Three groups given follow-up questionnaire: 7, 42, and 224 days later - Measured consistency in recall across time; also accuracy of beliefs and vividness No differences in consistency. . . BUT big differences in confidence about accuracy and vividness Participants were not any more accurate than participants corresponding to everyday event. Their study aligned with the results of Neisser's, suggesting that emotional intensity correlates with greater memory confidence, but not accuracy.

Eyewitness Testimony and why do people make errors

It refers to an account given by people of an event they have witnessed. Practical application of cognitive psychology errors because - Suggestibility - Source misattribution

Bahrick et al. (1975) issues of accuracy in autobiographical memory: recog vs. recall

Memory for high school classmates' names and faces -400 people -17 to 64 years old (memory up to 47 years) 1) Free recall- asked to remember and list as many of their ex classmates. 2) Photo recognition- asked to look at photos of classmates and remember names. 3) Name recognition- match names with photos. Memory loss over time Visual recognition is better than verbal recall. Recognition relatively good over long periods of time, however many situations do not facilitate recognition

Leveling, Assimilation, Sharpening

Narrative rehearsal Leveling - loss of details; unfamiliar ideas omitted the story is leveled to a shorter version assimilation - recollection normalized to fit with preconceived notions - ex: man who was shot described as hurt, rather than actual term you remember an argument differently from your opponent sharpening - remembering details that were inferred but not explicitly stated

Reproductive vs. reconstructive memory

Reproductive memory Accurate, verbatim memory of events & information. - e.g. "photographic" memory; computer memory Reconstructive memory Prior knowledge guides selection, interpretation & integration. We "reconstruct" what probably happened Not simply retrieved exactly if two friends were sitting next to each other, the memory of that event would be different to each person * schema and script guides the interpretation

Role of schemas & scripts in Reconstructive memory

Schema: A memory representation containing information about a type of event or object (e.g., knowledge of automobiles) this organized knowledge (derived from experience) guides the encoding of new information and retrieval of stored information; e.g. college office example --> remembered items that fit a office schema like chairs and desks Script: A schema that consisting of the knowledge of the typical order sequence of events/actions in a particular situation (eating out at a restaurant)

Schrauf & Rubin (1998): US immigrants 20s vs. 30s Reminiscence Bump

Shift (and reduction) in bump - Support for cognitive hypothesis

Why aren't memories reproductive?

Storage and retrieval costs (efficiency over accuracy) Interpretations are important Limited time span for relevance and/or use Often, encoding is resource-demanding Efficiency, interpretation, relevance

Brown & Kulick (1977) Flashbulb memories are Special

Support that flashbulb memories are special Special 'Now Print!' mechanism - Emotionally charged - High consequentiality they are more vivid, detailed, accurate, long-lasting, consistent and easily to remember while normal memories are believed to be selective, unreliable and malleable (easily changed or distorted).

memory consistency vs. vividness/beliefs

Talarico & Rubin (2003) post 9/11 study Beliefs make flashbulb memories feel different Consistent in decreasing details of memory vividness decreased a little then increased (remained high) for flashbulb memories. vividness decreased for everyday memories. Flashbulb/emotional/arousing memories are more vivid Confidence remained high for arousing/emotionally charged memories. Confidence decreased for everyday memory 3 days before. More confident for flashbulb/ emotional/ arousing memories

Narrative Rehearsal

The idea that we remember some life events better because we rehearse them This idea was proposed by Neisser as an explanation for "flashbulb" memories. Leveling, Assimilation, Sharpening

Brewer & Treyens (1981) Office object recall Schema-based Distortions

The participants waited individually in an office that was contained with office objects (e.g. desks) but there were also other objects in the office (e.g. a skull). The participants were let out after some amount of time and they were supposed to write down everything that they could remember from the room. Most of the participant recalled the schematic objects (e.g. typewriter). Skull (unexpected objects), ignored at times Worse recall for inconsistent objects Errors of omission Some participants reported things that were not in the room but would be expected to be in the room (e.g. telephone, books) False recall for (missing) consistent objects Errors of commission Can also apply to autobiographical memory

The Reminiscence Bump Schrauf & Rubin (1998)

The period of time in which you can recall events and memories more vividly. Generally between early and late adolescence...10-30...

Source Memory & Source Misattribution

The process by which people determine the origins of memories, knowledge, or beliefs. Misidentifying the source of a memory. The loss of accurate recall for the sources or origins of specific memories.

Suggestibility - Eyewitness testimony Loftus & Palmer, 1974

The way questions are phrased can lead people to have differing memories for events effect of leading questions on eyewitness recall ability Students watching a film of car accidents Used hit/smashed Speed estimate higher for smashed, and higher % saw broken glass

Verbatim vs content accuracy

Verbatim Accuracy: Remembering exactly what was experienced. Content Accuracy: Remembering the gist of what was experienced.

Flashbulb Memories

Very rich, detailed memories that are encoded when something emotionally important happens. ex: March 16, 2014

Ecological validity and memory

Word lists Good for control, but low validity . . . Everyday memory experiences - the "what" question Real-life applicability; importance of ecological validity What do people remember over their life span? - the "how" question How do we construct memories from real events? How do people distort memories?

What is Ecological validity?

applicability to real life - Memory research should possess this.

Applications to "fake news" misattribution due to familiarity

fake news more believable than real news because of familiarity familiarity cast the reality of truth We are overconfident in our memory abilities/ability to read carefully Sometimes forget source of information, and Inaccurate information may seem familiar and align with our beliefs

Nickerson & Adams (1979) penny experiment

introduced 15 versions of the US penny to their research participants and asked them which of the pennies the true US penny is. Less than half identified correctly because they encoded just enough information to distinguish the penny from the other coins. ex: they only know that pennies are copper-colored, and that pennies fall between the size of dimes and quarters. Forgetting due to encoding failure is therefore not a case of "not remembering" or simply "forgetting"; it's a case of "not knowing" and "not storing" information to long-term memory Memories are not reproductive

Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) false memory paradigm

involves the oral presentation of a list of related words (e.g. bed, rest, awake, tired, dream, wake, snooze, peace, yawn, drowsy) and then requires the subject to remember as many words from the list as possible. Typical results show that subjects recall a related but nonpresented word (e.g. sleep), with the same frequency as other presented words. When subjects are asked about their experience after the test, about half of all participants report that they are sure that they remember hearing the nonpresented word, indicating a false memory - memory for an event that never occurred

Autobiographical memory

memory across the lifespan for both specific events and self related information Some events are remembered better than others milestones, transitions Episodic memories for specific events from our lives

"Now print" mechanism neural evidence

significant experiences are immediately 'photocopied' & preserved in long-term memory Hamann et al. 1999- PET scans; emotionally-charged images led to higher amygdala activation and better memory Cahill et al 1995- Participants split into two groups -> saw 12 slides of two different stories 1) Boring story about a woman and her son visiting the hospital 2) Boy involved in car accident and was decapitated 'traumatic story' group injected with beta-blocker, to prevent amygdala activation. Result PS who heard the more intense story -> better recall of specific details of the story and slides Follow-up study -> those received beta-blockers did no better than the group that had head the boring story