Memory 2

Question 1

what are the key points to outline the reconstructive memory theory?

Answer 1

• memory is inaccurate
• reconstruction
• social/cultural influences
• effort after meaning

Question 2

According to Bartlett’s reconstructive memory theory, why do we reconstruct our memories?

Answer 2

Reconstruction, according to this theory, is that we reconstruct memories using small fragments of an event to fully form a new version of that memory.

Question 3

According to Bartlett’s reconstructive memory theory, why is our memory inaccurate?

Answer 3

The reconstructive memory theory says that our memory is inaccurate because we tend to change the way that we recall memories based on the small details that we remember, and it says that memory is an active process, in which we use fragments of a stimuli that we can remember, and then create new ways of recalling that event by using those fragments in order to create a proper story.

Question 4

According to Bartlett’s reconstructive memory theory, why do we change our memories based on cultural and social expectations? Use the example of the ‘War of the Ghosts’ study

Answer 4

According to the reconstructive theory, we alter or change our memories due to the influence of social and cultural biases, where for example, if the participants in the Bartlett War of the Ghosts study, some details, such as the race of the men or the activities were altered or ignored to fit the expectations of the participants due to their cultural biases. This shows that when reconstructing our memories, we are also influenced by our social and cultural biases and this can affect the accuracy of our memories.

Question 5

According to Bartlett’s reconstructive memory theory, why do we use effort after meaning?

Answer 5

When the fragments or the stimuli is unclear, we use effort after meaning, where we change the story that we heard after in order to make it make sense.

Question 6

what is effort after meaning?

Answer 6

Effort after meaning means that we make sense of something unfamiliar after it has happened. In relation to memory, this means that we often change them so that they make sense to us. As a result, memory is not an exact stored copy of facts, it is an active process of putting information together (a reconstruction)

Question 7

what is an advantage of Bartlett’s reconstructive memory theory? (research reflects real life memory)

Answer 7

A strength of Bartlett’s reconstructive memory theory is that it reflects how we use memory in our daily lives. This is because the research doesn’t use word lists or nonsense syllables but instead uses a story which can be easily applicable to real life, where we commonly use stories to communicate. Therefore, this makes the findings more relevant to real-life memory processes, increasing the validity.

Question 8

what is an advantage of Bartlett’s reconstructive memory theory?(eye witness testimony)

Answer 8

Another strength of Bartlett’s reconstructive memory theory is that it explains problems with eyewitness testimony (EWT). Barlett’s research shows that memory is affected by expectations, showing that people do not always recall accurately and that they might use effort after meaning to make what they witnessed make sense, which can make their recounts inaccurate. Therefore, EWT is no longer solely relied on as evidence in criminal investigation, this increases the validity of the study.

Question 9

what is a disadvantage of Bartlett’s reconstructive memory theory? (not all memories are reconstructed - war of the ghosts)

Answer 9

A weakness of Bartlett’s reconstructive memory theory is that there is evidence to suggest that not all memories are reconstructed. For example, in the “War of the Ghosts” study, participants often recalled that ‘something black came out of his mouth’ because it was a distinctive and memorable phrase. This shows that some memories are accurate. Therefore, this reduces the validity since the results of his study contradicts his theory.

Question 10

what was the aim of the Bartlett “War of the Ghosts” study?

Answer 10

The aim of Bartlett’s study was to find out how memory is reconstructed when asked to recall an unfamiliar story from another culture.

Question 11

what was the research method used in the Bartlett “War of the Ghosts” study?

Answer 11

The research method used was a lab experiment, where there was control of any extraneous variables.

Question 12

what was the method used in the Bartlett “War of the Ghosts” study?

Answer 12

The participants were asked to read a Native American folk story called “War of the Ghosts”, where 15 minutes later the first participant had to retell the story and had to reproduce what they could remember from the story and told that version to the second participant. This person than retold the story to somebody else, which repeated several times during the weeks that followed.

Question 13

what were the results in the Bartlett “War of the Ghosts” study?

Answer 13

The results showed that when the story was passed on 10 times, he found 4 key findings: the passage was much shorter, there were lots of emissions and changes of key details, and the order of events were changed.

Question 14

what was the conclusion in the Bartlett “War of the Ghosts” study?

Answer 14

Bartlett concluded that our memory is not an exact copy of what we hear. We distort our memories according to what we already know about the world. Therefore, memory is influenced by our own beliefs.

Question 15

what is reconstructive memory?

Answer 15

Reconstructive memory is when fragments of stored information are reassembled during recall. The gaps are filled in by our expectations and beliefs so that we can produce a “story” that makes sense.

Question 16

why is memory an active process according to Bartlett?

Answer 16

People tend to remember the overall meaning of events and reconstruct the story from this overall meaning, showing that memory is an active process since we actively construct our memory.

Question 17

What is a strength of Bartlett’s “War of the Ghosts” study? (similar findings, white vs black)

Answer 17

One strength of Bartlett’s research is similar findings in other studies. This is because in another study, white participants were shown a picture of a black and white man having an argument, where participants had to describe the image and then retold it to other participants. Similar to Bartlett’s study, there were some changes. Participants had said that the weapon was held by the black man, when it was actually held by the white man. This supports his theory about memory being an active process, as participants had changed what happened in order to fit their expectations and cultural beliefs towards black people. Therefore, this increases the validity of the study as there is supporting evidence.

Question 18

What is a weakness of Bartlett’s “War of the Ghosts” study? (limited participants)

Answer 18

One weakness of Bartlett’s study is the participants used were only University students. This is a weakness because that would mean that his sample was biased and unrepresentative of the target population. All these students were English students, meaning that they would have been likely to be better at reading and explaining a story than other people in the target population, e.g. older, younger, not an English student. Therefore, this reduces the validity and the generalisations that can be made about the findings of the study.

Question 19

What is a weakness of Bartlett’s “War of the Ghosts” study? (his beliefs)

Answer 19

Another criticism of Bartlett’s study is his own beliefs may have affected the results. This is because the final conclusions can depend on the interpretation of the results, where Bartlett analysed each example of recall and had to decide what had counted as accurate recall and what didn’t. Since Bartlett had already believed that recall would be affected by cultural expectations, he may have been more likely to notice this pattern in the results. Therefore, we can’t fully trust the results of this study as he might have been biased, reducing the validity of the study.

Question 20

what are the 3 factors that affects the accuracy of memory?

Answer 20

• interference
• context
• false memories

Question 21

what is interference?

Answer 21

Interference is the difficulty of remembering information if it is competing with another piece of information and it gets in the way. Forgetting might occur if 2 SIMILAR memories are being confused.
Interference can happen in 2 ways: proactive interference or retroactive interference

Question 22

what is proactive interference?

Answer 22

proactive interference is when new information might not be remembered because old information that we already know can get in the way and disrupts the recall

Question 23

what is retroactive interference?

Answer 23

retroactive is when old information might not be remembered because new incoming information disrupts the recall

Question 24

briefly outline the study that investigates the effect of interference on the accuracy of memory

Answer 24

• The effects of interference on the accuracy of memory was investigated by McGeoch and McDonald (1931), where they aimed to find out what the effect of doing 2 activities had on the accuracy of memory.
• The research method used was a lab experiment.
• They did this by making 12 participants learn a list of 10 words and then another list of varying types such as synonyms and antonyms, where there were 5 other word lists like this.
• The results showed that memory was affected by the second list, where the amount of accurately recalled words were affected if the words had similar meanings (synonyms).
• McGeoch and McDonald were able to conclude that interference affects the accuracy of memory, especially if the two things are similar.

Question 25

what is a strength of research into interference? (counterbalancing)

Answer 25

A strength of research into interference was that there was high control. This is because the experiment's research method was a lab experiment, where techniques like counterbalancing were used to reduce the impact that learning the lists in the same order would have on the results, meaning that the study was less biased.

Question 26

what is a weakness of research into interference? (artificial task)

Answer 26

A weakness of the study is that it does not reflect real-life memory activity and an artificial task is used. This is because we don’t often have to remember lists of words or very similar things. This means that the conclusion about the effect of interference is limited because of its artificiality. Therefore, this reduces the validity of the study as generalizations can't be made

Question 27

what is a weakness of research into interference? (other study contradicts)

Answer 27

A weakness with research on the effect of interference is that there is evidence from other studies to suggest that interference may not be an explanation of forgetting. This is because it may be that information is not forgotten and that the effects of interference might be temporary, where the memories can't be accessed because an appropriate cue has not been given like in the Tulving and Psotka 1971. Therefore interference doesn’t cause inaccurate memories, reducing the validity of the study as this contradicts its findings.

Question 28

what is context? how can context improve the accuracy of memory?

Answer 28

Context is the situation in which something happens, where context can act as a cue to recall information thus enhancing the accuracy of memory. This is because certain clues can be encoded in our memory at the time of learning, where we may link something in our surroundings with past memories.

Question 29

briefly outline the study that investigates the effects of context on the accuracy of memory?

Answer 29

- The effects of context on the accuracy of memory was investigated by Godden and Baddeley, where they aimed to investigate if context improved recall. - the research method used was a field experiment - They did this by gaining a sample of 18 divers, where they had to listen to and recall words in the same or different settings on the beach and underwater. - Results showed that the recall was highest in the same environment for learning and recall - The conclusion that was found said that the context of learning acts as a trigger or cue which can improve the accuracy of memory

Question 30

what is a strength of the research into the effects of context on recall? (ecological validity)

Answer 30

A strength of the Godden and Baddeley study is that it is a field experiment. This is because by having the experiment be in a setting where the learning and recall of words might usually happen, participants are more likely to behave normally and accurately to how they would in real life, increasing the applicability and generalizations that can be made about the target population. This increases the ecological validity of the study

Question 31

what is a weakness of the research into the effects of context on recall? (unrealistic)

Answer 31

A weakness of the Godden and Baddeley study was that it was unrealistic as the participants recalled the words almost immediately. This is because it does not relate to scenarios like exams where the gap between learning and recall is longer. Therefore research only tells us about short-term recall, reducing the validity of the research into context

Question 32

briefly outline the study that investigates the effect of false memories on the accuracy of memory

Answer 32

- The effects of false memory on the accuracy of memory was investigated by Loftus and Pickrell, where they aimed to see if false memories could be created in participants through suggestion. - 24 participants, with an age range from 18 to 53, were read four stories about childhood events, where three were true and one was fake (where as a child, they got lost in a shopping mall) and they had to guess which one was false and then retell the stories. - The results showed that 6 out of 24 (25%) of participants recalled the false story fully or partially. - To conclude, imagining an event can implant a false memory in a person reducing the accuracy of memory.

Question 33

what is a weakness of the research into the effects of context on recall? (artificial task - too simple)

Answer 33

A weakness of the research investigating the effect of context on the accuracy of recall is that an artificial task was used. This is because while the experiment was a field experiment set on the beach, the task itself wasn’t natural, where the aim of the study was to see whether divers could remember information better in the same environment where they learned it and they were given word lists to remember, which was an extremely simple task. Other research has found that more complex tasks produced better recall, showing that the results can't be applied in all situations. Therefore, this reduces the validity of the study.

Question 34

what are false memories?

Answer 34

False memories are when someone recalls a memory differently or recalls an event that didn’t happen. This is a fabricated or distorted recollection of an event. These memories might be entirely false and imaginary, where information that is recalled may have actually never happened.

Question 35

what is a strength of the research in the effect of false memories on the accuracy of memory? (EWT)

Answer 35

A strength of research into false memories is that the Loftus and Pickrell's study shows important implications about eye-witness testimony. This is because the findings show and bring evidence to suggest that eyewitness testimony in police questioning can accidentally recall false and inaccurate details in their memory. This research has changed the way that courts deal with eyewitness testimony now. Therefore, this study can be applicable to real life.

Question 36

what is a weakness of the research in the effect of false memories on the accuracy of memory? (ethical issues)

Answer 36

A weakness of the Loftus and Pickrell's study is that participants may be left with the implanted false memories, which allows ethical concerns to arise. This is because at the end of the study, the participants were debriefed and were told that the lost in the mall story was fake. However, participants were left with a sense of it actually happening, which could lead to distress. This led to ethical concerns of whether the aim of the study was sufficient reason to manipulate people.

Question 37

what is a weakness of the research in the effect of false memories on the accuracy of memory? (artificial task - harmless)

Answer 37

A weakness of this study is that that it was an artificial task. This is because the false memory event (lost in a mall) is relatively harmless and can be easily implemented into somebody's memory, which might not be true of another event that is more traumatic and memorable. Therefore, the conclusions about the accuracy of eye-witness testimony that can be drawn are limited, reducing the validity of the study