Download Seven Sins of Memory

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Seven Sins of Memory
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When do People Forget?
• Transcience is Caused by Interference
• Blocking is Temporary
• Absentmindedness Results from Shallow Encoding
• Amnesia is a Deficit in Long-Term Memory (not
considered one of the 7 sins)
• Persistence is Unwanted Remembering
How Are Memories Distorted?
• People Reconstruct Events to be Consistent (bias)
• Flashbulb Memories Can Be Wrong
• People Make Source Misattributions
• People are Bad Eyewitnesses
• People have False Memories (suggestibility)
• Repressed Memories are Controversial
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Memory as Information Processing
Psychologists use the metaphor that the mind is an
information processor that
• encodes,
• stores and
• retrieves
information. A rough analogy is that memory is like
computer processes.
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Memory Failures: The Seven Sins of Memory
There are many instances where memory fails us. Your
authors describe seven groups of memory failures.
Memory failures:
• Transience
• Blocking
• Absentmindedness
Psychological Science, Fifth Edition
Copyright © 2015 W. W. Norton & Company
• Persistence
Psychological Science, Fifth Edition
Copyright © 2015 W. W. Norton & Company
• Bias
o Consistency bias
o Change bias
o Egocentric bias
• Memory misattribution
• Suggestibility
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Transience
Transience: Forgetting what occurs with the passage of
time.
Our memories are not exact replicas of what we
experienced. Transience affects all of our memories to
some degree. Most forgetting occurs soon after an event.
Details were crisp minutes and hours after the event.
However, as days, weeks and months pass, details are
forgotten. What we remember generally what occurred
and reconstruct the details.
One piece of information that tends to be lost is the source
of information (whether it was bad or good).
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Transience: Interference
The details of our memories fade as time passes. As our
lives move forward, new memories can interfere with old
ones.
Proactive Interference: Interference that occurs
when prior information inhibits the ability to
remember new information (page 290).
Information
yesterday
Psychology of
Learning
Information
today
Psychology of
Memory
Information
tomorrow
Retroactive Interference: Interference that occurs
when new information inhibits the ability to
remember old information (page 290).
Information
yesterday
Information
today
Psychology of
Memory
Information
tomorrow
Thinking and
Intelligence
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Transience: Interference
The details of our memories fade as time passes. As our
lives move forward, new memories can interfere with old
ones.
Proactive Interference: When prior information
inhibits the ability to remember new information
(page 299).
Information
yesterday
Information
today
Senator Hillary
Clinton
Information
tomorrow
Retroactive Interference: When new information
inhibits the ability to remember old information
(page 299).
Information
yesterday
Information
today
Vice President
Dick Cheney
Information
tomorrow
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Blocking
Blocking is the temporary inability to remember something
(page 291).
A common example of this the tip-of-the-tongue
experience (TOT) where you feel that you are on the
verge of recalling information.
Blocking often occurs because some interference for
words that are similar in some way, such as in sound or
meaning. People often confuse the members of the
television show Munsters and the Addams Family.
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Absentmindedness (divided attention)
The inattentive or shallow encoding of events (page 291).
Attention plays a key role in encoding information into long
term memory. If you fail to attention or divide your
attention between multiple tasks, you are less likely to
recall information (see encoding failure) from one of the
tasks and less likely to notice subtle changes.
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Amnesia
Type of
amnesia
Retrograde
Definition
A condition in which people lose past
memories, such as memories for events,
facts, people or even personal
information (page 291). Backward-acting
memory loss; especially for episodic
memory. It is believed that the process
of memory consolidation is impaired with
severe blows to the head.
• Trevor Reese Jones (Princess
Diana’s bodyguard) has
retrograde amnesia.
Anterograde
A condition in which people lose the
ability to form new memories (page 291);
forward acting memory loss.
• H.M. could not form new explicit
memories (episodic and
semantic), but could learn and
form new procedural memories.
Infantile
The inability to remember experiences during
childhood. This is generally attributed to the
lack of organization about the world and
information is quickly lost as well as an
immature hippocampus that prevents us from
encoding explicit memories.
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Brain Structures and Memory
Retrograde Amnesia
Retrograde amnesia: A condition in which people lose
past memories, such as memories for events, facts,
people or even personal information (page 291).
Backward-acting memory loss; especially for episodic
memory. It is believed that the process of memory
consolidation is impaired with severe blows to the head.
Past
Onset of
amnesia
Present
e.g. an
accident
What
occurred a
few
moments
before the
accident
The
accident
Later
memories
are intact
Future
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Anterograde Amnesia
Anterograde Amnesia: A condition in which people lose
the ability to form new memories (page 291); forward
acting memory loss.
Past
Has long
term
memories
Onset of
amnesia
Present
Can’t form new
long-term
declarative
(explicit)
memories, but
can form new
procedural
memories
Future
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Sleep and Memory
REM sleep (short periods in which we dream) is thought to
restore mental and brain functions.
• Both animal and human studies have shown that
REM sleep increases after learning a novel task
and
• deprivation of REM sleep following training disrupts
learning when compared to those who are not
deprived of REM sleep.
Being deprived of sleep can impair your ability to form new
long-term memories
Why is it important to know about the relation between
sleep and memory?
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Persistence
Persistence is the continual recurrence of unwanted
memories (page 293). Persistence often occurs after
emotionally disturbing or traumatic events.
These intrusive memories can include flashbulb memories
which are detailed recollections of when and where we
heard about shocking events.
Some aspects of flashbulb memories are better
remembered and some aspects are like normal memories
in that they may not be that accurate.
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Persistence
If we elaborate and talk about the event, this information is
better retained. Smaller details tend to be forgotten. In
addition, if strong emotions tend to be evoked, memory for
the event increases.
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Memory as Information Processing
The analogy doesn’t capture other features of memory
such as that people forget and distort information and
sometimes remember events in a way that is different than
how the event actually occurred.
Memory is NOT like a video tape that records everything.
It is more like a jigsaw puzzle where we remember certain
events and reconstruct the missing pieces.
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What memories are real?
It is very difficult to distinguish between “actual memories”
and reconstructed memories. Reconstructed memories
are potentially inaccurate.
A student example:
In middle school I was asked to write a paper on the
earliest memory I could recall. I whacked my brain for
hours trying to remember something from my early
childhood, when suddenly it came to me: I was running
along the coast on a very cold and drizzly day, wearing an
aqua green quilted jacket, and I could see my long hair
escaping on both sides of the hood, flying in the wind.
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Reconstructed Memories
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Memory Bias
Memory bias is the changing of memories over time so
that they become consistent with current beliefs or
attitudes (page 295). Memories of the past are just as
much a reflection of the past as the present.
Bias can influence memories by
(a) altering the past to fit the present so that the two
memories are consistent (the consistency bias)
(b) exaggerating differences between the past and the
present (change bias)
(c) and distorting the past to make us look better
(egocentric bias)
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Bias
Consistency bias: Our current moods, beliefs and
knowledge influence our past memories.
Our belief that our current beliefs have “always been this
way” affects what we remember about our past. It is as if
our memory of our past attitudes have faded and inferred
from our current attitude.
Actual attitudes measured in 1973 and 1982
In one study, researchers asked participants to indicate
their attitude in 1973 and 1982 on controversial issues
such as legalization of marijuana and women’s rights
Attitudes in 1973
Attitudes in 1982
In addition, in 1982, they were asked to recall what their
attitudes were 9 years earlier. What they found was that
the recollections were a closer match to their attitudes in
1982 than in 1973.
Attitudes in 1973
Attitudes in 1982
In 1982, recall of
attitudes in 1973
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Likewise, evaluations of subsequent romantic
relationships were more of a reflection of the current
status of the relationship than of what actually occurred—
whether good or bad.
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Bias
Change bias is when we exaggerate differences between
the past and the present.
Most of us would like to believe that our love grows over
time. It is unlikely that we remember how we viewed our
relationship years ago. With the belief “love grows
stronger over time”, we know what our current feelings
are, so we infer that it must have grown over time.
When dating couples were asked to rate their relationship
over a period of 4 years (once a year) and then recall how
they felt in the past, couples who stayed together reported
evaluations that were consistent with the expectation that
love grows over time.
Average actual ratings
year 1
year 2
year 3
year 4
year 3
year 4
Average ratings recalled
year 1
year 2
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Bias
Egocentric bias is when we distort the past to make us
look better.
• Students often remember feeling more anxious before
taking an exam than they actually reported at the time
• Blood donors sometimes recall being more nervous
about giving blood than they actual were.
• When recalling grades from high school, there is a
tendency to recall the good grades (89% accurate)
and not remember the bad grades (29% accurate). In
addition, lower grades, when remember tended to be
better than they actually were.
Students were remembering the past as they wanted
it to be rather than the way it was (page 253)
Actual
Grades
A
A
B
B
C
C
D
D
F
F
Grades
recalled
A
Good grades remembered
A
B
B
C
C
Low grades “upgraded”
C
D
Bad grades forgotten
F
F
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Source misattribution
Source misattribution are memory distortion that occur
when people misremember the time, place, person, or
circumstances involved with a memory (page 296).
In the case of the investigation of the Oklahoma City
bombing, Timothy McVeigh’s accomplice (Terry Nichols)
was misidentified as Todd Bunting. The eyewitness at
Elliot’s Body Shop confused Timothy McVeigh and Terry
Nichols with Michael Hertig and Todd Bunting who also
rented a van the next day. McVeigh and Hertig were
similar in appearance.
Day NN:
• Timothy McVeigh
• Terry Nichols
Day OO:
• Michael Hertig
• Todd Bunting
Remember, if we don’t pay attention to detail, we are less
likely to encode it, and memories fade over time so
specific details become lost.
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Memory misattribution
Memory misattributions are one of the primary causes of
eyewitness misidentifications. Eyewitnesses can identify
people based on familiarity. They recognize that they
have seen the person before, but can’t remember the
source of that recognition (when, where or the context of
the information). Since they are being asked about the
crime and the person seems familiar, eyewitnesses can
unconsciously infer that that was the person. Eyewitness
testimony tends to be persuasive because people exude
confidence in what they saw. In chapter 12, Social
Psychology, this can be especially troubling when
members of an out-group tend to look the same (out-group
homogeneity effect).
Is what we
remember
something we saw
on TV?
OR
Is what we
remember an
actual
experience?
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Memory misattribution
In addition to the examples in your textbook (the
misidentification of Donald Thompson as a rapist and
Todd Bunting as Terry Nichols, in the 1970s, one of these
men was misidentified as “the Gentleman Bandit”.
Eyewitness confidently identified “the Gentleman Bandit”
(he was dubbed the Gentleman Bandit because he was so
nice when he robbed them). However, it appears that the
reason they were confident was that they were familiar
with the suspect’s face because his picture was shown on
the evening news. This memory was confused with the
actual memory.
Is what we
remember a picture
we saw on TV?
OR
Is what we remember
an actual experience
of being robbed?
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Suggestibility
Suggestibility is the tendency to incorporate misleading
information from external sources into personal
recollections.
In one experiment by Elizabeth Loftus, she showed an
accident involving two cars.
To find out if the language used to question witnesses had
an effect on memory, she asked different groups of people
to estimate the speed of the cars using different questions.
A week later, she asked the participants “Was there any
glass?”
Those who were asked
• 32% reported seeing glass in the “smashed into” version
• 14% reported seeing glass in the “contacted” version
There was no glass.
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Suggestibility
In another experiment by Elizabeth Loftus, participants
when shown a videotape of a car at a stop sign. These
participants were asked if the car stopped at the yield sign.
These participants who were exposed to misleading
information (asked about a yield sign that was actually a
stop sign) often reported seeing a yield sign. The original
source of information was confused with the misleading
question.
People develop false memories in response to
suggestions for the same reasons memory misattributions
occur. We do not store all the details of our experiences
in memory, making us vulnerable to accepting suggestions
about what might have happened, or what should have
happened (page 251, SGW)
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Like schemas, the question you use to elicit information
has an effect on how you remember the event and answer
the question. Small changes in language affect memory.
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Memory Distortions and Schemas
In this demonstration, participants were asked to wait in
this office for the study on memory to begin.
Afterwards, they were brought to another room and asked
to recall as many objects as they could remember in the
office they were waiting in.
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Memory Distortions and Schemas
What participants recalled about the office:
Correct recollections by participants:
• Chair
• Bookcase
• Desk
• Typewriter
Incorrect recollections by
participants:
• Books
• Telephone
• Filing cabinets
• Pens and pencils
• Coffee cups
Items not recalled by participants:
• Coffee pot
• Wine bottle
• Picnic basket
Items typically
found in an office
Items typically not
found in an office
How do psychologists explain these errors in memory
recall?
Most people do not pay attention to the details and encode
the content of the office because it is not very important for
their daily life. A majority of the contents of office entered
sensory memory, but was not encoded (encoding failure)
into short-term memory and quickly forgotten.
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Schemas
A schema is an organized cluster of information about a
particular topic.
• Information consistent with an office schema would
include telephone, books, lamp, etc.
• Information inconsistent with an “office schema”
would include candles, cars, submarines, etc.
To help “remember” the contents of the office, people
activated an “office schema” and inferred items that are
typically in an office. This means:
• Remembering things that are typically in an office
(regardless if they were in there or not).
• Not remembering and forgetting things that were in
the office but not in a “typical office”.
“Sensory memory”
“Short-term memory” “Long-term memory”
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You can generalize how schemas affect memory by the
following:
• We tend to remember things that are consistent with a
schema.
• We tend to forget things that are inconsistent with our
schema.
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What are examples where labels (which activate
schemas) affect what we remember and think?
A schema is an organized cluster of information about
a particular topic.
Schemas can affect social perception, especially in
race relations. The language and labels you use activate
certain schemas and affect your perception of political,
social and personal issues?
Perceptual Sets and Beliefs can Affect your Memory
In the following demonstration people looked at this
picture and later asked to recall what went on in the
picture.
What do you see in this picture?
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What do you remember about this picture?
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Stereotypes and Memory
Like schemas, your beliefs can make you forget things
that inconsistent with your beliefs and remember things
that are consistent with that belief—regardless of the
reality.
This experiment was done when stereotypes of black
people were quite negative (e.g. people had a stereotype
that black people are more likely to rob a person). With
this stereotype, people remembered the following that
were not true:
• The black man was more aggressive.
• The white person was more passive.
• The passengers were afraid.
• The razor was in the black man’s hand.
Schemas and stereotypes can have an affect on memory,
and has the potential to affect our behavior, attitudes, or
decisions, by not giving blacks the benefit of doubt or
opportunities. If you have a negative stereotype of
minorities, members of groups you consider “outcast” or
deviant, you are more likely to interpret behavior as being
criminal and notice more “criminal behavior” in minorities
and ignore “criminal behavior” in non-minorities.
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Are the Seven Sins Vice or Virtues?
• Transience
• Absentmindedness
• Blocking
• Memory misattribution
• Suggestibility
• Bias
o Consistency bias
o Change bias
o Egocentric bias
• Persistence
Think of these mindbugs as “resource management”.
Quite often they increase efficiency of thinking processes
we use most often and are adaptive at the cost of the
processes we don’t use often and less adaptive.
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Are the Seven Sins Vice or Virtues?
Transience
It is good to forget information that is not
current, relevant and that we don’t use. We
would be storing information that isn’t useful.
We tend to notice the times when transience
fails us that when it helps us.
Absentmindedness If we encoded every little detail because we
were focusing attention on it, we have a lot
of useless information and would be unable
to generalize or function at an abstract level.
Blocking
Neural pathways that aren’t used that often
are more likely to be blocked. This allows
the pathways that are being used to run
more efficiently.
Memory
misattribution and
Suggestibility
These often occur because we often fail to
recall the details of exactly when and where
we learned something. Generally speaking,
we rarely need to remember the precise
details of everyday experience. The general
experience is usually good enough.
Bias
While bias can distort our past in a positive
manner, this can increase our overall sense
of happiness. These positive illusions can
lead to greater psychological adjustment.
Persistence
Persistence can be adaptive in remembering
threatening events, actions or locations thus
leading us to avoid them.
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