Everyday memories and memory errors

Question 1

what is the amygdala?

Answer 1

subcortical, involved in processing emotional aspects of experience

Question 2

what is a cognitive hypothesis

Answer 2

explanation for the reminiscence bump - memories better for adolescence and early adulthood - encoding better during periods of rapid change followed by stability

Question 3

what is a cognitive interview

Answer 3

when interviewing crime scene witnesses - letting them talk with no interruptions. recreating the scene

Question 4

what is the constructive nature of memory

Answer 4

the idea that memories are constructed of what actually happened, plus additional factors - expectations, knowledge, life experiences

Question 5

what is the cultural life script hypothesis

Answer 5

where events in a persons life are easier to recall when they fit the cultural life script for their culture

Question 6

what is a cultural life script

Answer 6

common life events that occur in a particular culture

Question 7

eyewitness testimony

Answer 7

what an eyewitness saw during a crime

Question 8

flashbulb memory

Answer 8

memory for the situation when you heard about something particularly shocking eg 9/11. Claimed they are highly vivid and accurate (see constructive memories)

Question 9

what is highly superior autobiographical memory?

Answer 9

when some people can remember personal experiences that occurred on any day or time

Question 10

what is the illusory truth effect

Answer 10

where we feel positive about something being true because we have heard it before

Question 11

what is the misinformation effect

Answer 11

misleading information presented after someone has witnessed an event that changes how they describe it later

Question 12

what is misleading postevent information

Answer 12

the info that causes the misinformation effect

Question 13

what are music enhanced autobiographical memories (meams)

Answer 13

autobiographical memories elicited after hearing music

Question 14

what is the narrative rehearsal hypothesis

Answer 14

the idea that we remember shocking events (or big life events) better because we rehearse them - explanation for flashbulb memories

Question 15

what is pragmatic inference

Answer 15

where someone infers something from reading or hearing something that is not explicitly stated

Question 16

what is the reminiscence bump

Answer 16

that people over 40 have enhanced memory from events from adolescence and early adulthood compared to other periods

Question 17

what is repeated recall

Answer 17

where recall is tested immediately after an event and then retested

Question 18

what is a schema

Answer 18

knowledge about what is involved in a particular experience - eg a kitchen

Question 19

what is a script

Answer 19

actions that describe a particular activity eg going to class (= going to class script)

Question 20

what is a self-image hypothesis

Answer 20

where memory is enhanced for events that occur as self-image or life identity is being formed (explanation for reminiscence bump)

Question 21

what is a source misattribution

Answer 21

when the source of a memory is misidentified

Question 22

what is a source monitoring error

Answer 22

misidentifying the source of a memory

Question 23

source monitoring

Answer 23

eg when you remember you heard something from a particular person

Question 24

what is weapons focus

Answer 24

where eyewitnesses focus attention on a weapon causing poor memory for other things happening

Question 25

what is youth bias

Answer 25

where the most notable things to occur in someones life are perceived to be when they are young