S2 L6 - Memory Errors Flashcards
(24 cards)
What are the seven sins of memory?
How memory fails
Transcience
Absentmindedness
Blocking
Misattribution
Suggestibility
Bias
Persistence
What is Transience?
A 7 sin of memory
Decreasing accessibility of memories over time
What is the Ebbinghaus’s Curve?
Rate of forgetting continues but at a slower pace
compared to when we first learn the information and forget as most forgetting occurs early
What are the 2 reasons as to why we forget?
Decay - Forgetting due to passage of time
Interference - Forgetting due to competition between memories
What is Thorndike’s Law of Disuse?
The more time elapses without using a memory the more the memory decays until it is forgotten completely
How does McGeoch critique Thorndike’s Law of Disuse?
The passage of time causes nothing by itself - time is correlated with processes that cause forgetting
What are the 2 types of interference?
Proactive interference - old memories impair retrieval of new memories
eg teacher trying to remember new classmates names but getting them mixed up w older ones
Better memory with less proactive interference from old information
(memory preserved for first/oldest info, memory suffers for new info due to this interference)
Retroactive Interference - New memories impair retrieval of older memories
eg
from new information ps who went to sleep had better recall than ps who stayed awake. better memory w less retroactive interference from new information
What is Absentmindedness?
Lapses of attention that affect memory and learning
The more off task mind wandering, the poorer your learning is
How is Multitasking habits correlated w
more you multi task the more absentmindedness is promoted or you just dont remember shite
What is Blocking?
Information is present but temporarily inaccessible
eg
tip of the tongue phenomenon
resolving tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon may prevent them from reoccurring later on
What is Misattribution?
Attributing memories to an incorrect source
thinking someone told you something when it was actually someone else
What is source monitoring?
lets us check where our memories come from
but if we make an error in monitoring sources of our memories then we make an attribution error (misattribution)
What are the types of source monitoring?
Internal source of our memories - did i have this memory or did this happen to me or did i just imagine this was the case? eg locking the door
External source of our memories - who told me about this?
you have info ab this but lost track who told you this
Reality - did i see this or did someone mention it? eg flashbulb memories
Cryptomnesia - unconscious plagiarism - is this really my original idea?
How can we prevent misattribution error?
Use Types of source information to track down whether we have encoded this memory / help identify sources of memory
Perceptual - perceptual detail often higher for memories actually experienced than from other sources - touch , smell, tastes
Contextual - context in which memory was acquired is consistent with an expected source
Affective - emotional reaction in context of information
Cognitive - mental processing of the information
What is a false memory?
Remembering things that have never happened
What is Suggestibility?
Implanted memories that never occurred
false memories can be implanted via suggestion
What is the Misinformation effect?
Altering memories to conform to recently encountered but incorrect information
shows how misinformation can be proliferated
What is Bias?
Distorting memories of the past based on current knowledge and beliefs
What is Hindsight bias?
Misremember memories as being more similar to the current knowledge state
Hindsight outcomes closer to actual outcomes than their foresight predictions
What is persistence?
Unwanted recollections that cannot be forgotten
eg traumatic experiences, memories we dont want to keep
What are some unwanted recollections that cannot be forgotten? (examples)
Earworm
War/violence
First responders traumatic events (causing trauma and ptsd)
What is Amnesia?
A deficit in memory caused by brain damage, disease, or psychological trauma
eg Clive Wearing
brain lesion or traumatic event
What is Retrograde amnesia?
Loss of ability to access memories prior to the event
What is Anterograde amnesia?
Loss of ability to store new memories after the event
