7- Social Memory Flashcards
What is the Mandela effect?
A situation where a large amount of people believe an event occurred when it didn’t
What does the Mandela effect show?
Memories can be unreliable
What are the 2 definitions of social memory?
Traditional- (personal) social memory
Recent- collective memory
What is social memory?
Memory of own experiences
How is social memory framed?
Socially
What is social memory distinct from?
Neural and biological explanations
What is collective memory?
Memories shared by a social group
3 things that influence collective memory
Group beliefs, motivations, and identity
Who share a collective memory?
Typically the ingroup
What is the size of a collective memory?
Small or large
What is an example of a reinforced collective memory?
Christmas
2 types of collective memory
Communicative and cultural memories
How are communicative memories maintained?
Through socialisation and traditions
How are cultural memories maintained?
Through records and factual sources
2 theories that explain the function of collective memories
Social identity theory and social representation theory
What does social identity theory suggest is the function of collective memories?
To create a group narrative
What does social identity theory suggest that shared memory means?
That we are different from them
What do collective memories define according to social representation theory?
How a group should behave
How are collective memories used according to social representation theory?
To drive the group into action
How can collective memories inform a social group?
How to behave around the norm
Are collective memories fixed?
No, they constantly evolve
How do generations contribute to the evolution of collective memories?
Familial memories are passed on so stories inevitably change over time
How does ingroup identity affect availability heuristics?
Different ingroups often describe events differently even though they experience the same event
Are social memory and collective memory different things?
Yes
