Chapter 8: Everyday memory and memory errors

Question 1

2 characteristics of autobiographical memories

Answer 1

they are multidimensional; ex. people who loose their visual memory loose their autobiographical memory, brain activation self taken photograph experiment

and we remember some events better than others

Question 2

reminiscence bump

Answer 2

finding that people over 40 have enhanced memories from 10-30 as compared to other periods of their lives, 3 hypothesis to explain this

Question 3

self-image hypothesis of the reminiscence bump

Answer 3

memory is enhanced for events that occur as a person’s self-image is formed, “I am” statements experiment

Question 4

cognitive hypothesis of the reminiscence bump and evidence

Answer 4

periods of rapid change followed by stability cause stronger encoding of memories, later immigrants don’t have a reminiscence bump

Question 5

cultural life script hypothesis of the reminiscence bump

Answer 5

idea that life events are easier to remember if they follow the cultural life script

Question 6

cultural life script

Answer 6

life events that commonly occur at particular times within a culture

Question 7

youth bias

Answer 7

tendency for most notable public events in a persons life being perceived as occurring when that person is young

Question 8

amygdala

Answer 8

sub-cortical structure that is involved in processing emotional aspects of experience, including memory for emotional events

Question 9

how has the importance of the amygdala been demonstrated?

Answer 9

fMRI scans show amygdala was more active for emotional words, rather than neutral word
BP amygdala damaged, doesn’t have enhanced memory for emotional events like normal people

Question 10

what increases the consolidation of memory

Answer 10

release of the stress hormone cortisol, ex. emotionally arousing/ neutral stimuli and arms in cold water experiment

Question 11

flashbulb memories

Answer 11

memories for circumstances of hearing about shocking, highly charged events (ex. 9/11) particularly vivid

Question 12

repeated recall

Answer 12

comparing later memories to memories collected immediately after an event; used to determine if memory changes over time

Question 13

narrative rehearsal hypothesis of flashbulb memories and what is it linked to?

Answer 13

Neisser; the idea that we remember some life events better because we rehearse them, based on the idea that memory can be affected by what happens after an event, linked to TV coverage, princess Diana study

Question 14

constructive nature of memories approach, experiment and what illustrates it

Answer 14

Barlett; memories are constructed based on what actually happened and additional factors such as a persons knowledge, experience, or expectations, ex. war of ghosts experiment illustrated by source monitoring

Question 15

source monitoring

Answer 15

process of determining the origin of our memories, knowledge, or beliefs, ex. remembering you heard something from a particular person

Question 16

source monitoring errors/misattributions

Answer 16

misidentifying the source of a memory

Question 17

cryptomnesia

Answer 17

example of a source monitoring errors; unconscious plagiarizing

Question 18

illusory truth effect

Answer 18

increased probability of believing a statement is true if it has been presented repeatedly

Question 19

explanation for illusory truth effect

Answer 19

fluency: the ease with which a statement can be remembered, familiarity, associated with propaganda effect

Question 20

repeated reproduction- what is it? experiment and findings

Answer 20

people are asked to reproduce a stimulus repeatedly in longer and longer intervals since the original presentation; “war of ghosts” experiment; remembered stories tend to reflect participants own culture

Question 21

pragmatic inference

Answer 21

when reading a sentence leads a person to expect something that isn’t explicitly stated/infer something, ex. snowman vanished became snowman melted

Question 22

schema

Answer 22

a persons knowledge about what is involved in a particular experience

Question 23

script

Answer 23

type of schema, the sequence of actions that is usually involved in a particular experience

Question 24

false memories arise from what?

Answer 24

the same constructive processes that produce true memories

Question 25

highly superior autobiographical memory

Answer 25

people who can remember what they did on any given day

Question 26

misinformation effect

Answer 26

misleading info presented after a person witnessed an event that changes how a person describes the event later

Question 27

misleading postevent information (MPI)

Answer 27

the misleading information that causes the misinformation effect, ex. smashed vs hit

Question 28

explaination for the misinformation effect

Answer 28

based on idea of source monitoring, person incorrectly concludes the source of their memory for the incorrect event happened when it was actually MPI

Question 29

what can explain false memories

Answer 29

familiarity

Question 30

repressed childhood memories

Answer 30

memories that have been pushed out of a persons consciousness

Question 31

problems with eye-witness testimonies

Answer 31

poor visibility, weapons focus, suggestion; ex. which one of these men did it? good you identified the suspect experiment MPI experiments, source monitoring errors; familiarity may lead to mistakenly identify a bystander of a crime as the perpetrator, ex. robber/male teacher film experiment, becoming famous overnight experiment leading questions positive feedback from officers postevent questioning

Question 32

weapons focus

Answer 32

tendency to focus on a weapon causing poorer memory for other things that are happening in a crime

Question 33

positive identification feedback effect and what is it an example of

Answer 33

increase in confidence of memory recalling due to confirming feedback, example of suggestion

Question 34

improving eyewitness testimonies; line-up procedures decreasing misidentification

Answer 34

tell the witness prep traitor may not be in line-up use similar looking people use a line-up administrator that doesn't know who the suspect is have witness rate confidence immediately

Question 35

improving eyewitness testimonies; interviewing process

Answer 35

cognitive interview: letting the witness talk with minimal interruptions and helping recreate the event for the witness

Question 36

nostalgia

Answer 36

memory that involves sentimental affection for the past

Question 37

music-enhanced autobiographical memories (MEAMS)

Answer 37

autobiographical memories elicited by hearing music

Question 38

Proust effect

Answer 38

how taste and smell unlocked memories from years ago

Question 39

when are autobiographical memories most likely to form

Answer 39

during the reminiscence bump

Question 40

how has it been demonstrated that general world knowledge can cause memory errors?

Answer 40

war of ghosts experiment, pragmatic inference, schemas (ex. office experiment) and scripts (ex. dentist experiment), and false recall and recognition

Question 41

problem with eye-witness testimonies

Answer 41

1. weapons focus, 2. familiarity; which can result in misidentification due to source monitoring errors, 3. errors due to suggestion during questioning, 4. post-identification feedback effect