Week 10 Constructive Memory

Question 1

Is memory like watching a movie?

Answer 1

No

• Memory is constructive so memory formation is not like pressing play on a video camera memory formation is more like taking snapshots
• Memory is reconstructive memory retrieval is not like watching a video memory retrieval is more like editing a video

Question 2

What influences how memories are retrieved?

Answer 2

Peoples knowledge, experiences, expectations, biases etc.

Question 3

What are some aspects that memory formation depends upon?

Answer 3

• Perception and attention
• Emotions mood and physical/mental state
• Prior knowledge (schemas, expectations, etc)
• The context (novelty)

Question 4

What are false memories?

Answer 4

Wide variety of memory errors or distortions

• Subjective reexperiencing of an event or detail that did not actually happen

Question 5

What are false memories NOT?

Answer 5

• lying or “known error”
  
  • In many cases, people really believe the false memory actually happened
• biased guessing

Question 6

What happened in “War of Ghosts” study?

Answer 6

Story from indigenous tradition essentially became westernized by people who had to recall it and we’re not indigenous

Edwardian British adults read a traditional indigenous story called “War of the Ghosts” and participants recalled story across several years. The story became shorter and more coherent as it was retold and there was no trace of an odd or supernatural element left. It became a perfectly straightforward story of a fight and a death.

• omission of the ghost early on
• rationalization: coherency among parts
• Transformation of details into more familiar and conventional
• Changing order of events

Question 7

What can lead to distortions in our memory?

Answer 7

Schemas

Question 8

what is a schema?

Answer 8

Schemas are a mental framework that organizes knowledge of the world and refer more to a particular context such as a grocery store or a movie theatre.

Question 9

How do you schemas have a beneficial effect on encoding?

Answer 9

• Schema presented before but not after typically improve memory such
  
  • laudry example
• Schemas help to select relevant information to read encoding
• Makes it easier for us to encode new information by providing a way to organize our memories

Question 10

What is an example that relates schemas with expertise?

Answer 10

Chess piece positioning

When chess pieces were laid out on a board and then Novus intermediate and expert players got to look at the board and then had to recall where pieces were experts record the position of chess pieces from real chess games so we’re able to better recall the positions. However experts and non-experts are no better from each other in recalling random configurations of chess pieces

Question 11

How are schemas and memory error related?

Answer 11

• Using schemas to infer waht happened can fill in gaps in knowledge so we don’t have to remember every single detail
• Can lead to errors in memory
• Ex. Office room

Question 12

What is the Deese- Roediger and McDermott DRM paradigm?

Answer 12

The Deese–Roediger–McDermott paradigm is a procedure in cognitive psychology used to study false memory in humans

Question 13

What explains the DRM affect?

Answer 13

When participants might create a schema on the fly for the particular situation

• recognition word test

Question 14

What explains the DRM affect?

Answer 14

Associative Network

Question 15

what is associative network?

Answer 15

Semantic memory is organized in a network of related concepts

• A massive Network of associated ideas and concepts

Question 16

How does prime mean occur in the DRM paradigm?

Answer 16

Spreading activation in the network primes the word

• Prior exposure to info leads us to be faster and more biased to residing towards a false word later without our conscious awareness

Question 17

What is priming?

Answer 17

Refers to the activation of one concept or one unit of information by another.

Question 18

What is the neural network ?

Answer 18

Each Concept in the associative network is represented by a particular pattern or set of notes that becomes activated simultaneously.

Question 19

What are some functions of false memories?

Answer 19

• Self-functions
• social functions
• allows us to imagine the future
• Allows us to reimagine the past

Question 20

How can false memories be good for the self?

Answer 20

Falsely recalling the past can help to maintain our sense of identity by making us appear better or worse than we actually were.

Question 21

How can false memories function in social relationships?

Answer 21

We may adopt false beliefs or memories that are consistent with other peoples recollections to improve social relations/

Question 22

How many false memories allow us to imagine the future?

Answer 22

• Flexible nature of memory
• We can buy any details from the past in novel ways
• Supports our ability to make a future plans, set goals etc.

Question 23

How do you false memories allow us to reimagine the past?

Answer 23

• Counterfactual thoughts such as “if I only had set my alarm this morning I wouldn’t have been late”
• Helps us to learn from our mistakes and guide our future behaviour.

Question 24

What is memory similar to?

Answer 24

Imagination

Question 25

Distortion and false memories might actually be \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

Answer 25

Adaptive