Chapter 4 - Mechanisms Underlying Recovered Memories

Question 1

Why is forgetting beneficial to us?

Answer 1

1. Achieve our goals
2. Function in society
3. Avoid being distracted by our past

Question 2

What would happen if we remembered every detail that happened in our lives?

Answer 2

• Information overload
• Forgetting is important because it helps us remember

Question 3

The idea that not all of our forgetting is an accident but may be related to our motives and intentions is known as….

Answer 3

motivated forgetting.

Question 4

How can we study if not all forgetting is an accident but can be related to our motives/intentions?

Answer 4

the directed forgetting procedure

Question 5

What is the directed forgetting procedure?

Answer 5

participants are instructed to forget recently encoded materials

Question 6

What are the 2 types of direct forgetting procedure?

Answer 6

1. item method directed forgetting
2. list method directed forgetting

Question 7

Explain the study done to explain item method directed forgetting.

Answer 7

Learning Phase:
- subjects given a word to be encoded
- receive an instruction prompting them to either remember of forget the word

Testing Phase:
- given a test to recall all to-be-remembered words and recall all to-be-forgotten words

Question 8

What are the results of item method directed forgetting procedure?

Answer 8

• To-be-forgotten words are
  dramatically impaired
• To-be-remembered items are
  recalled quite well

Question 9

What is an encoding deficit and what does it illustrate?

Answer 9

• Subjects rehearse the words until given an instruction to either remember or forget the word ➔ they either terminate encoding and rehearsal, or continue to rehearse the word
• shows how people are able to exercise voluntary control over what they allow into memory

Question 10

Explain the study done to explain list method directed forgetting.

Answer 10

Learning Phase:
- subjects given a word to be encoded
- Halfway through the list, unexpectedly asked to forget words

Testing Phase:
- subjects are asked to disregard the earlier instruction to forget, and to remember as much as they can

Question 11

What are the results of item method directed forgetting procedure?

Answer 11

• Encode the items in the first of the list
• No encoding deficits but rather retrieval deficits
  1. Recognition tests– forgotten items remain intact in memory
  2. Lower accessibility of those items-

Question 12

Which experiment was done to examine if we can forget autobiographical memories?

Answer 12

Barnier et al (2007)

Question 13

Briefly explain the experiment done by Barnier et al (2007)

Answer 13

Learning phase: Generate a personal memory for each 24-cue word

Group A: Forget 12 cue words ➔ Generate 12 new memories with new cue words
Group B: Remember 12 cue words ➔ Generate 12 new memories with 12 new cue words

Testing Phase: List all the memories they generated from both lists

Question 14

What were the results found from study done by Barnier et al (2007)?

Answer 14

• found reliable and strong directed forgetting effects

Question 15

What are repressors?

Answer 15

people who have a repressive coping style and tend to recall fewer negative events from their lives

Question 16

What experiment was done to determine whether repressors are just skilled at inhibiting retrieval?

Answer 16

Myers, Brewin & Power (1998)

Question 17

Briefly explain the experiment done by Myers, Brewin & Power (1998)

Answer 17

• used a directed forgetting procedure in which subjects studied pleasant or unpleasant words
  -Repressors were better at using retrieval inhibition to block recall of recently studied unpleasant words

Question 18

Repressors have been found to be superior to non-repressors in intentionally…

Answer 18

suppressing personal emotional events from their past

Question 19

What is the purpose for the study done by Geraerts, Merckelbach, Jelicic, & Smeets (2006a)?

Answer 19

Do natural repressors experience more unwanted intrusions in the days after having intentionally avoided such thoughts?

Question 20

Briefly explain the experiment done by Geraerts, Merckelbach, Jelicic, & Smeets (2006a)

Answer 20

• were instructed to keep a 7-day diary reporting their positive and negative intrusions, after having suppressed these intrusions in the lab
• Over 7-day period, they reported highest number of negative intrusions

Question 21

What do the results of Geraerts, Merckelbach, Jelicic, & Smeets (2006a) show?

Answer 21

Short-term benefits: fewer unwanted thoughts
Long-term consequences: not a good way to cope with negative emotions

Question 22

Memory resembles…

Answer 22

a synthesis of experience NOT a replay of a videotape

Question 23

What is a consequence of our memory resembling “synthesis of experience” and not “videotape?

Answer 23

FALSE MEMORIES - People can come to believe memories of experiences that never happened

Question 24

What are some things that impact the way we recall memories and remembered events:

Answer 24

Post-event misinformation ➔ information an eyewitness later reads or hears from others are easily added to their narrative
Leading questions ➔ prompts or encourages the desired answer
Misinformation effect ➔ subjects believe they have seen items that were misleadingly suggested

Question 25

Briefly describe the experiment done by Loftus & Palmer (1974).

Question 26

“Did you see a broken headlight” vs “Did you see the broken headlight” is an example of…

Answer 26

Misinformation effect:
- Definite question (”the”) = fewer “I don’t know” responses and more “recognition” of the event

Question 27

“How fast was the vehicle traveling when the car contacted vs smashed each other” is an example of…

Answer 27

A Leading Question:
- “Smashed” = 10% faster than “contacted”

Question 28

Briefly describe the Roediger & McDermott (1995) and Deese–Roediger–McDermott (DRM) paradigm

Answer 28

• showed that it is amazingly easy
  to foster false memories with college students in the lab
• subjects studied a list of words that are strong semantic associates of a word not presented on the list – the critical lure
• EX. a list contained words
  related to the topic of sleep but the word sleep was not mentioned
• many of their subjects falsely recalled and recognized having seen these critical lures

Question 29

What is an example of false autobiographical memories (AM)?

Answer 29

Convinced participants that they experienced a childhood event that never happened
Ex. being hospitalized overnight

Question 30

What is directed forgetting?

Answer 30

• sexually abused children cope by developing an avoidant encoding style
• Able to disengage their attention from threatening cues
• Impairing memory for these cue

Question 31

Briefly explain the study done by McNally, Clancy & Schacter (2001)

Answer 31

Learning Phase:
Shown words on a computer screen (2 seconds) Cue to either ”remember” or “forget” the previous word
3 categories of words:
Trauma-related (e.g., abuse)
Positive (e.g., sociable)
Neutral (e.g., banister)

Testing Phase:
- Free recall task immediately after
- Disregard previous “forget” or “remember” instructions

Question 32

What were the results from the study done by McNally, Clancy & Schacter (2001)

Question 33

People reporting recovered child sexual abuse memories are…

Answer 33

prone to falsely remembering/recognizing non-presented words