Chapter 8: Everyday and Memory Errors

Question 1

Reminiscence Bump

Answer 1

the empirical finding that people over 40 years old have enhanced memory for events from adolescence and early adulthood, compared to other period of their life

Question 2

Self-Image Hypothesis

Answer 2

the idea that memory is enhanced for events that occur as a person’s self image or life identity is being formed

this is one of the explanations for the reminiscence bump

Question 3

Cognitive Hypothesis

Answer 3

an explanation for the reminiscence bump, which states that memories are better for adolescence and early adulthood because encoding is better during periods of rapid change that are followed by stability

Question 4

Cultural Life Script Hypothesis

Answer 4

the idea that events in a person’s life story become easier tor recall when they fit the cultural life script for that person’s culture

this can be cited to explain the reminiscence bump

Question 5

Cultural Life Script

Answer 5

life events that commonly occur in a particular culture

Question 6

Youth Bias

Answer 6

tendency for the most notable public events in a person’s life to be perceived to occur when the person is young

Question 7

Amygdala

Answer 7

a subcortical structure that is involved in processing emotional aspects pf experience, including memory for emotional events

Question 8

Flashbulb Memories

Answer 8

memory for circumstances that surround hearing about shocking, highly charged events

it has been claimed that such memories are particularly vivid and accurate

Question 9

Repeated Recall

Answer 9

recall that is tested immediately after an event and then retested at various times after the event

Question 10

Narrative Rehearsal Hypothesis

Answer 10

the idea that we remember some life events better because we rehearse them

this idea was proposed by Neisse as an explanation for “flashbulb” memories

Question 11

Constructive Nature of Memory

Answer 11

the idea that what people report as memories are constructed based on what actually happened plus additional factors, such as expectations, other knowledge, and other life experiences

Question 12

Source Monitering

Answer 12

the process by which people determine the origins of memories, knowledge, or beliefs

remembering that you heard about something from a particular person would be an example of source monitering

Question 13

Source Monitering Error

Answer 13

misidentifying the source of a memory

Question 14

Source Misattributions

Answer 14

occurs when the source of a memory is misidentified

Question 15

Illusory Truth Effect

Answer 15

enhanced probability of evaluating a statement as being true upon repeated presentation

Question 16

Fluency

Answer 16

the ease with which a statement can be remembered

Question 17

Repeated Reproduction

Answer 17

a method of measuring memory in which a person is asked to reproduce a stimulus on repeated occasions at longer and longer intervals after the original presentation of the material to be remembered

Question 18

Pragmatic Inference

Answer 18

inference that occurs when reading or hearing a statement leads a person to expect something that is not explicitly states or necessarily implied by the statement

Question 19

Schema

Answer 19

a person’s knowledge about what is involved in a particular experience

Question 20

Script

Answer 20

a type of schema

the conception of the sequence of actions that describe a particular activity

for example; the sequence associated with going to class would be a “going to class” script

Question 21

Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory

Answer 21

autobiographical memory capacity possessed by some people who can remember personal experiences that occurred on any specific day from their past

Question 22

Misinformation Effect

Answer 22

misleading information presented after a person witnesses an event that changes how the person describes that event later

Question 23

Misleading Post-event Information (MPI)

Answer 23

the misleading information that causes the misinformation effect

Question 24

Repressed Childhood Memories

Answer 24

memories that have been pushed out of a person’s consciousness

Question 25

Eyewitness Testimony

Answer 25

testimony by eyewitnesses to a crime about what they saw during commission of the crime

Question 26

Weapon Focus

Answer 26

the tendency for eyewitnesses to a crime to focus attention on a weapon, which causes poorer memory for other things that are happening

Question 27

Post-Identification Feedback Effect

Answer 27

an increase in confidence of memory recall due to confirming feedback after making an identification, as in a police lineup

Question 28

Cognitive Interview

Answer 28

a procedure used for interviewing crime scene witnesses that involves letting witnesses talk with a minimum of interruption it also uses techniques that help witnesses recreate the situation present at the crime scene by having them place themselves back in the scene and recreate the emotions they were feeling, where they were looking, and how the scene may have appeared when viewed from different perspectives

Question 29

Nostalgia

Answer 29

a memory that involves a sentimental affection for the past

Question 30

Music-Enhanced Autobiographical Memories (MEAMs)

Answer 30

autobiographical memories elicited by hearing music

Question 31

What is autobiographical memory?

Answer 31

memory for specific experiences from our life, which can include both episodic and semantic components mental time travel multidimensional: spatial, emotional, and sensory components

Question 32

What is the sensory component of autobiographical memory?

Answer 32

patients who cannot recognize objects also experience loss of autobiographical memory visual experience plays a role in forming and retrieving AM

Question 33

What events are remembered well over a person's lifespan?

Answer 33

significant events in a person's life highly emotional events transition points

Question 34

What is the reminiscence bump?

Answer 34

participants over the age of 40 asked to recall events in their lives memory is high for recent events and for events that occurred in adolescence and early adulthood (between 10 and 30 years of age)

Question 35

What is the self-image hypothesis explaining the reminiscence bump?

Answer 35

memory is enhanced for events that occur as a person's self-image or life identity is being formed people assume identities during adolescence and young adulthood, most transitions occur between ages 10 and 30 memories from this period are a foundation for later development, either as continuous with that foundation or as discontinuous and in need of explanation references made back to this momentous time of life would function cognitively as rehearsals

Question 36

What is the cognitive hypothesis explaining the reminiscence bump?

Answer 36

encoding is better during periods of rapid change that are followed by stability evidence from those who emigrated to the US after young adulthood indicates reminiscence bump is shifted

Question 37

What is the cultural life-script hypothesis explaining the reminiscence bump?

Answer 37

each personal has a personal life story and an understanding of culturally expected events personal events are easier to recall when they fit the cultural life script

Question 38

What is memory for emotional stimulus?

Answer 38

emotional events remembered more easily and vividly emotion improves memory, becomes greater with time (may enhance consolidation) brain activity: amygdala

Question 39

What are flashbulb memories?

Answer 39

memory for circumstances surrounding shocking, highly charged important events 9/11, kennedy assassination, challenger explosion where you where, and what you were doing highly emotional, vivid, and very detailed are not "photograph" memories, as they can change with the passage of time repeated recall causes changes results suggest inaccurate or lacking in detail, even though reported to be very vivid and confident

Question 40

What is the narrative rehearsal hypothesis?

Answer 40

repeated viewing/hearing of event TV, newspaper, radio, talking with others could introduce errors in own memory

Question 41

What is the constructive nature of memory?

Answer 41

memory = what actually happens + person's knowledge, experiences, and expectations

Question 42

What is a source memory?

Answer 42

process of determining origins of our memories

Question 43

What is a source monitoring error?

Answer 43

misidentifying source of memory also called source misattributions

Question 44

What is cryptoamnesia?

Answer 44

unconscious plagiarism of another's work due to a lack of recognition of its original source

Question 45

How does making inferences affect memory?

Answer 45

memory can be influenced by inferences that people make based on their experiences and knowledge

Question 46

What are pragmatic inferences?

Answer 46

based on knowledge gained through experience memory often includes information that is implied by or is consistent with the to-be-remembered information but was not explicitly stated

Question 47

What is a schema?

Answer 47

knowledge about some aspect of the environment

Question 48

What is a script?

Answer 48

conception of sequence of actions that usually occurs during a particular experience

Question 49

How do schemas and scripts influence memory?

Answer 49

memory can include information not actually experienced but inferred because it is expected and consistent with the schema office waiting room: books not present but mentioned in memory task the constructive nature of memory can lead to errors or "false memories"

Question 50

What are the advantages of the construction of memories?

Answer 50

allows us to "fill in the blanks" cognition is creative understand language solve problems make decisions

Question 51

What are the disadvantages of the construction of memories?

Answer 51

sometimes we make errors sometimes w misattribute the source of information was it actually present, or did we infer it?

Question 52

What is the misinformation effect?

Answer 52

misleading information presented after a person witnesses an event can change how that person describes the event later

Question 53

What are errors in eyewitness testimony?

Answer 53

testimony by an eyewitness to a crime about what he or she saw during the crime one of the most convincing types of evidence to a jury, assume that people see and remember accurately but, like other memory, eyewitness testimony can be inaccurate: mistaken identity, constructive nature of memory

Question 54

What are errors due to attention and arousal?

Answer 54

attention can be narrowed by specific stimuli weapons focus

Question 55

What are errors due to familiarity?

Answer 55

source monitering

Question 56

What are errors due to suggestion?

Answer 56

suggestive questioning confirming feedback

Question 57

What can decrease eyewitness testimony errors?

Answer 57

inform witness perpetrator might not be in lineup use "fillers" in lineup similar to suspect use sequential presentation (not simultaneous) improve interviewing techniques (cognitive interview)