Download Memory

PSYCHOLOGY
(8th Edition)
David Myers
PowerPoint Slides
Aneeq Ahmad
Henderson State University
Worth Publishers, © 2006
1
Memory
Chapter 9
2
Memory
Memory is the basis for knowing your friends,
your neighbors, the English language, the
national anthem, and yourself.
If memory was nonexistent, everyone would be
a stranger to you; every language foreign; every
task new; and even you yourself would be a
stranger.
3
MEMORY
• If technological advances would allow it,
would you ever want to intentionally get rid
of memories of some specific events?
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
addressed this question (Chapter 7, “Empty
Your Life”
4
The Phenomenon of Memory
Memory is any indication that learning has
persisted over time. It is our ability to store and
retrieve information.
5
MEMORY
• Take out a blank sheet of appear and write
down all the responses that come to mind in
the order in which they occur. Incorrect
responses are as important as correct ones in
illustrating the nature of memory.
• How many __________ can you remember?
6
RECOGNITION
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Grouchy
Gabby
Lazy
Smiley
Bashful
Shy
Shorty
Sniffy
Doc
Dumpy
Sneezy
Sleepy
Grumpy
Hopeful
Teach
Dopey
Happy
Puffy
Stubby
Fearful
Pop
Jumpy
Cheerful
Droopy
Nifty
Wishful
Wheezy
7
From most to least likely to be
recalled:
Sleepy
Dopey
Grumpy
Sneezy
Happy
Doc
Bashful
8
7 DWARFS
• Difficulty of the task (information
processing)
• Tip-of-the tongue phenomenon (TOT)
• Organization of memory by sound, letter,
and meaning (runs)
• Recall vs recognition
9
The Case of Clive Wearing
• Clive Wearing Video Clip—Part I
• Clive Wearing Video Clip—Part II
10
The Case of Clive Wearing
• Video clip from The Mind, modules 10 and
11.
• What does Clive have difficulty
remembering?
• What does Clive have no difficulty
remembering?
11
Impressions Activity—Part 1
12
Flashbulb Memory
Ruters/ Corbis
A unique and highly emotional moment may
give rise to a clear, strong, and persistent
memory called flashbulb memory. However,
this memory is not free from errors.
President Bush being told of 9/11 attack.
13
FLASHBULB MEMORY
• Write down in a sentence or two your three
most vivid memories.
• Do any of the following events have a
flashbulb quality for you?
–
–
–
–
A car accident you were in or witnessed
Your junior prom (if you went or not)
An early romantic experience
A time you had to speak in front of an audience
14
FLASHBULB MEMORY
CONTINUED
– The moment you opened your SAT scores
– The first time your parents left you alone
– Your thirteenth birthday.
– What qualities do flashbulb memories share?
15
FLASHBULB MEMORIES
• Flashbulb memories tend to be biologically
significant, novel, personally meaningful,
emotional, or consequential.
• Our recall includes aspects that are unrelated to
the meaningfulness of the event itself.
• Flashbulb memory is not necessarily accurate even
though the person believes they are.
16
Stages of Memory
Keyboard
(Encoding)
Disk
(Storage)
Sequential Process
Monitor
(Retrieval)
17
Information Processing
Frank Wartenberg/ Picture Press/
Corbis
Bob Daemmrich/ The Image Works
Bob Daemmrich/ The Image Works
The Atkinson-Schiffrin (1968) three-stage model
of memory includes a) sensory memory, b)
short-term memory, and c) long-term memory.
18
Problems with the Model
1. Some information skips the first two stages
and enters long-term memory automatically.
2. Since we cannot focus all the sensory
information in the environment, we select
information (through attention) that is
important to us.
3. The nature of short-term memory is more
complex.
19
Working Memory
Alan Baddeley (2002) proposes that working memory
contains auditory and visual processing controlled by
the central executive through an episodic buffer.
20
Encoding: Getting Information In
How We Encode
1. Some information (route to your school) is
automatically processed.
2. However, new or unusual information
(friend’s new cell-phone number) requires
attention and effort.
21
Automatic Processing
We process an enormous amount of information
effortlessly, unconsciously, such as the
following:
1. Space: While reading a textbook, you
automatically encode the place of a picture
on a page.
2. Time: We unintentionally note the events
that take place in a day.
3. Frequency: You effortlessly keep track of
things that happen to you.
This is helped by parallel processing
22
(simultaneous)
Effortful Processing
© Bananastock/ Alamy
Spencer Grant/ Photo Edit
Committing novel
information to memory
requires effort just like
learning a concept from
a textbook. Such
processing leads to
durable and accessible
memories.
23
MEMORY ACTIVITY
Memorize the following list of nonsense syllables using rehearsal:
• fet
lik
• lah
coz
• rup
giw
• nol
qiz
• wep
ryp
• rew
wis
• niv
sek
• wez
wal
• wim
qut
• kij
fis
24
Rehearsal
Effortful learning
usually requires
rehearsal or conscious
repetition.
http://www.isbn3-540-21358-9.de
Ebbinghaus studied
rehearsal by using
nonsense syllables
(why nonsense
syllables?): TUV YOF
GEK XOZ
Hermann Ebbinghaus
(1850-1909)
25
Rehearsal and Retention Curve
The more times the
nonsense syllables were
practiced on Day 1,
the fewer repetitions
were required to
remember them on Day
2. (Method of Savings)
Overlearning increases
retention (12 Days of
Christmas).
26
What is your favorite food?
27
Impressions Activity—Part 2
28
Memory Effects
1. Next-in-line-Effect: When you are so
anxious about being next that you cannot
remember what the person just before you
in line says, but you can recall what other
people around you say.
2. Spacing Effect: We retain information better
when we rehearse over time.
3. Serial Position Effect: When your recall is
better for first and last items on a list, but
poor for middle items.
29
Spacing Effect
Distributing rehearsal (spacing effect) is better
than practicing all at once. Those who learn
quickly also forget quickly. Robert Frost’s poem
could be memorized with fair ease if spread over
time.
ACQUAINTED WITH THE NIGHT
Robert Frost
I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain — and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.
……
30
Serial Position Effect
• Memorize the list of capitals (mute first):
• Primacy: Oslo, Ankara, Nairobi,
Montevideo, Lhasa
• Canberra, Lisbon, Bucharest, Port-auPrince, Sofia
• Recency: Seoul, Nicosia, Managua, Bogota,
Caracas
31
Serial Position Effect
• Write down the 12 gifts in the Twelve Days
of Christmas song
• Write down as many U.S. presidents as you
can remember on a blank sheet of paper.
32
Serial Position Effect
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
TUV
ZOF
GEK
WAV
XOZ
TIK
FUT
WIB
SAR
POZ
REY
GIJ
Better recall
Poor recall
Better recall
33
ACTIVITIES
• Handout 9-3
• Handout 9-4
• What do these activities show us about
encoding?
34
What We Encode
1. Encoding by meaning
2. Encoding by images
3. Encoding by organization
35
Craig and Tulving – Levels of
Processing
• Processing a word deeply- by its meaning
(semantic encoding) produces better recognition
than shallow processing (by appearance or sound)
• Self-reference effect “about you”
–
–
–
–
–
Link to what you know
Make up sentences
Manipulate material in your mind
Ask questions
Put you in the picture
36
Encoding Meaning
“Whale”
Q: Did the word begin
with a capital letter?
Structural
Encoding
Shallow
Q: Did the word rhyme
with the word
“weight”?
Phonemic
Encoding
Intermediate
Q: Would the word fit
in the sentence?
He met a __________
in the street.
Semantic
Encoding
Deep
Craik and Lockhart (1972)
37
Results
38
Visual Encoding
Mental pictures (imagery) are a powerful aid to
effortful processing, especially when combined
with semantic encoding.
Both photos: Ho/AP Photo
Showing adverse effects of tanning and smoking
in a picture may be more powerful than simply talking about it.
39
60 Minutes Video Clip
• http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=
7166313n&tag=related;photovideo
40
Mnemonics
Imagery is at the heart of many memory aids.
Mnemonic techniques use vivid imagery in
aiding memory.
1. Method of Loci
2. Link Method
41
Method of Loci
List of Items
Imagined Locations
Charcoal
Pens
Bed Sheets
Hammer
.
.
.
Rug
Backyard
Study
Bedroom
Garage
.
.
.
Living Room
42
KEYWORD MEHTOD
• Use keyword method to learn parts of the nervous
system and their functions.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Broca’s Area
Parietal Lobe
Hypothalamus
Cerebral Cortex
Amygdala
Frontal Association Areas
Corpus Callosum
Left Hemisphere
Temporal Lobes
Hippocampus
43
Link Method
List of Items
Newspaper
Shaving cream
Pen
Umbrella
.
.
.
Lamp
Involves forming a mental image of items to be
remembered in a way that links them together.
44
Organizing Information for
Encoding
Break down complex information into broad
concepts and further subdivide them into
categories and subcategories.
1. Chunking
2. Hierarchy
45
Chunking
Organizing items into a familiar, manageable
unit. Try to remember the numbers below.
1-7-7-6-1-4-9-2-1-8-1-2-1-9-4-1
If you are well versed with American history,
chunk the numbers together and see if you
can recall them better. 1776 1492 1812 1941.
46
Chunking
Acronyms are another way of chunking
information to remember it.
HOMES = Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior
PEMDAS = Parentheses, Exponent, Multiply, Divide, Add, Subtract
ROY G. BIV = Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet
47
• Chunking Activity p. 13-instructor
resources.
48
Hierarchy
Complex information broken down into broad
concepts and further subdivided into categories
and subcategories.
49
Encoding Summarized in a
Hierarchy
50
Storage: Retaining Information
Storage is at the heart of memory. Three
stores of memory are shown below:
Sensory
Memory
Working
Memory
Long-term
Memory
Encoding
Events
Encoding
Retrieval
Retrieval
51
Sensory Memory
Sensory
Memory
Working
Memory
Long-term
Memory
Encoding
Events
Encoding
Retrieval
Retrieval
52
Whole Report
Sperling (1960)
R G T
F M Q
L Z S
“Recall”
RTMZ
(44% recall)
50 ms (1/20 second)
The exposure time for the stimulus is so small
that items cannot be rehearsed.
53
Partial Report
S X T
J R S
P K Y
Low Tone
Medium Tone
High Tone
“Recall”
JRS
(100% recall)
50 ms (1/20 second)
Sperling (1960) argued that sensory memory capacity
was larger than what was originally thought.
54
Time Delay
A D I
N L V
O G H
Low Tone
Time
Delay
“Recall”
Medium Tone
N__
(33% recall)
High Tone
50 ms (1/20 second)
55
Sensory Memory
Percent Recognized
The longer the delay, the greater the memory loss.
80
60
40
20
0.15
0.30
0.50
Time (Seconds)
1.00
56
Sensory Memories
The duration of sensory memory varies for the
different senses.
Iconic
0.5 sec. long
Echoic
3-4 sec. long
Hepatic
< 1 sec. long
57
WORKING MEMORY
• Partner up with another student
• Who will be the first subject?
• Be careful to read the letters and number
with the same tone of voice and with equal
pacing.
• Working Memory Activity-P. 14 of
instructor manual
58
Working Memory
Sensory
Memory
Working
Memory
Long-term
Memory
Encoding
Events
Encoding
Retrieval
Retrieval
59
Working Memory
Working memory, the new name for short-term
memory, has a limited capacity (7±2) and a short
duration (20 seconds) George Miller.
Sir George Hamilton observed that he could accurately remember up
to 7 beans thrown on the floor. If there were more beans, he guessed.
60
Capacity
The Magical Number Seven, Plus or
Minus Two: Some Limits on Our
Capacity for Processing Information
(1956).
Ready?
MUTGIKTLRSYP
You should be able to
recall 7±2 letters.
George Miller
61
Chunking
The capacity of the working memory may be
increased by “Chunking.”
F-B-I-T-W-A-C-I-A-I-B-M
FBI TWA CIA IBM
4 chunks
62
Duration
Brown/Peterson and Peterson (1958/1959)
measured the duration of working memory by
manipulating rehearsal.
CHJ
MKT
HIJ
547
547
544
541
…
CH??
The duration of the working memory is about
20 sec.
63
Working Memory Duration
64
Long-Term Memory
Sensory
Memory
Working
Memory
Long-term
Memory
Encoding
Events
Encoding
Retrieval
Retrieval
65
Long-Term Memory
Unlimited capacity store. Estimates on capacity
range from 1000 billion to 1,000,000 billion bits of
information (Landauer, 1986).
R.J. Erwin/ Photo Researchers
The Clark’s nutcracker can locate 6,000 caches of
buried pine seeds during winter and spring.
66
Memory Feats
67
Memory Stores
Feature
Sensory
Memory
Working
Memory
LTM
Encoding
Copy
Phonemic
Semantic
Capacity
Unlimited
7±2 Chunks
Very Large
Duration
0.25 sec.
20 sec.
Years
68
Storing Memories in the Brain
1. Through electrical stimulation of the brain,
Wilder Penfield (1967) concluded that old
memories were etched into the brain.
2. Loftus and Loftus (1980) reviewed
Penfield's data and showed that only a
handful of brain stimulated patients
reported flashbacks.
3. Using rats, Lashley (1950) suggested that
even after removing parts of the brain, the
animals retain partial memory of the maze.
SIGNIFICANCE: memory is dispersed.
69
SYNAPATIC CHANGES DURING
MEMORY FORMATION
• Memory begins as neural impulses that
leave permanent neural traces
• Synapses are the key area
70
Synaptic Changes
In Aplysia, Kandel and Schwartz (1982) showed
that serotonin release from neurons increased
after conditioning.
Photo: Scientific American
71
Synaptic Changes
Both Photos: From N. Toni et al., Nature, 402, Nov. 25 1999. Courtesy of Dominique Muller
Long-Term Potentiation
(LTP) refers to synaptic
enhancement after
learning (Lynch, 2002).
An increase in
neurotransmitter release
or receptors on the
receiving neuron
indicates strengthening
of synapses.
72
CURRENT RESEARCH ON
DRUGS TO ENHANCE MEMORY
• FOCUS:
– Boost in production of the protein CREB which
can switch genes on or off to help reshape
synapses and consolidate STM into LTM
– Boost glutamate which helps in synaptic
communication (LTP)
73
SYNAPTIC CHANGES DURING
MEMORY FORMATION
• Explains why a person who is knocked
unconscious has no memory of events
leading up to injury: information in STM
did not have time to consolidate into LTM
74
Stress Hormones & Memory
Heightened emotions (stress-related or
otherwise) make for stronger memories.
Continued stress may disrupt memory.
Scott Barbour/ Getty Images
75
Stronger emotions make for stronger
memories.
• Some stress hormones boost learning and
retention.
– Make glucose more available.
– Amygdala (in limbic system) boosts activity
– Prolonged stress is like acid, it corrodes neural
connections and shrinks the hippocampus
76
IMPLICIT VS EXPLICIT
• Familiar with scene due to some previous
event (implicit memory created) but can not
recall specific details (explicit memory)
Example:
77
DEVELOP INTO A CHART THAT SHOWS
THE RELATIONSHIPS:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
A. Skills - motor and cognitive
B. Processed in hippocampus
C. Implicit (procedural)
D. Types of long-term memories
E. Facts - general knowledge
F. Explicit (declarative)
G. Classical and operational conditioning effects
H. Processed, in part, by cerebellum
I. Personally experienced events
78
Storing Implicit & Explicit Memories
Explicit Memory refers to facts and experiences that one
can consciously know and declare. Implicit memory
involves learning an action while the individual does not
know or declare what she knows.
79
Hippocampus
Hippocampus – a neural center in the limbic
system that processes explicit memories.
Weidenfield & Nicolson archives
80
MEMENTO
• After viewing segment from movie:
81
Anterograde Amnesia
After losing his hippocampus in surgery, patient
Henry M. (HM) remembered everything before the
operation but cannot make new memories. We call
this anterograde amnesia.
Retrograde amnesia is the opposite.
Anterograde
Amnesia
(HM)
Memory Intact
No New Memories
Surgery
82
Implicit Memory
HM is unable to make new memories that are
declarative (explicit), but he can form new
memories that are procedural (implicit).
A
B
C
HM learned the Tower of Hanoi (game) after his surgery. Each time
he plays it, he is unable to remember the fact that he has already
played the game.
83
Cerebellum
Cerebellum – a neural center in the hindbrain
that processes implicit memories.
84
RETRIEVAL
• Handout 9-7
• Activity: 4 volunteers, 2 with expertise in
music, 2 without
85
Retrieval: Getting Information Out
Retrieval refers to getting information out of
the memory store.
Spanky’s Yearbook Archive
Spanky’s Yearbook Archive
86
Measures of Memory
In recognition, the person must identify an item
amongst other choices. (A multiple-choice test
requires recognition.)
1. Name the capital of France.
a.
b.
c.
d.
Brussels
Rome
London
Paris
87
Measures of Memory
In recall, the person must retrieve information
using effort. (A fill-in-the blank test requires
recall.)
1. The capital of France is ______.
88
Measures of Memory
In relearning, the individual shows how much
time (or effort) is saved when learning material
for the second time.
List
List
Jet
Dagger
Tree
Kite
…
Silk
Frog
Ring
Jet
Dagger
Tree
Kite
…
Silk
Frog
Ring
It took 10 trials
to learn this list
1 day later
Saving
It took 5 trials
to learn the list
Relearning
Trials
X 100
Relearning
Trials
Original
Trials
10
5
10
X 100
50%
89
Retrieval Cues
Memories are held in storage by a web of
associations. These associations are like anchors
that help retrieve memory.
water
smell
fire
smoke
Fire Truck
heat
hose
truck
red
90
Priming
To retrieve a specific memory from the web of
associations, you must first activate one of the
strands that leads to it. This process is called
priming.
91
Context Effects
Scuba divers recall more words underwater if they
learned the list underwater, while they recall more
words on land if they learned that list on land
(Godden & Baddeley, 1975).
Fred McConnaughey/ Photo Researchers
92
Context Effects
After learning to move a mobile by kicking,
infants most strongly respond when retested in
the same context rather than in a different
context (Butler & Rovee-Collier, 1989).
Courtesy of Carolyn Rovee-Collier,
Rutgers University
93
Déja Vu
Déja Vu means “I've experienced this before.”
Cues from the current situation may
unconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier
similar experience.
© The New Yorker Collection, 1990. Leo Cullum from
cartoonbank.com. All Rights Reserved
94
DÉJÀ VU EXPERIENCE
• Decreases with age and increases with
education and income
• Experienced mainly when people are
indoors, engaged in leisure activities or
relaxing, and in the company of friends
• Is relatively brief - 10 to 30 seconds- more
frequent in the evenings and on weekends
95
DÉJÀ VU EXPERIENCE
• Is responded to more positively than
negatively, with people typically indicating
they are surprised, curious, or confused
• More common in person who travel,
remember their dreams, and have liberal
political and religious beliefs
96
DÉJÀ VU EXPERIENCE EXPLANATIONS
• BIOLOGICAL DYSFUNCTION
• DIVIDED PERCEPTION
• IMPLICIT FAMILIARITY IN THE
ABSENCE OF EXPLICIT
RECOLLECTION
97
BIOLOGICAL DYSFUNCTION
• Incoming sensory data follow several
different pathways to the brain
• A neurochemical event that slightly alters or
delays the transmission speed in one
pathway could cause the brain to interpret
the data as two events
98
DIVIDED ATTENTION
• Similar to inattentional blindness perceptual experience can be split into two
parts, if attention is divided
99
RETRIEVAL
• Make two columns, number each from one
to ten
• In the first column list 10 vegetables
• In the second column list 10 movies
100
RETRIEVAL
• Arrange your two lists in a numbered, alphabetical
order on a second sheet of paper
• On the second sheet rank each item from 1 to 10
with respect to the other members of the list from
your most favorite to your least favorite
• Transfer each of the ranks back to the original list.
Compare and draw conclusions.
101
Moods and Memories
We usually recall experiences that are consistent
with our current mood. Emotions, or moods,
serve as retrieval cues.
Jorgen Schytte/ Still Pictures
102
MOODS AND MEMORIES
• Events in the past may have aroused a specific
emotion that later can prime us to recall its
associated events
• State-dependency memory
• Mood-congruent memories: the tendency to recall
experiences that are consistent with one’s current
good or bad mood
• Mood primes us to interpret others’ behavior in
ways consistent with our emotions (moods thus
persist)
103
Forgetting
An inability to retrieve information due to
poor encoding, storage, or retrieval.
104
Forgetting
• The ability to forget is adaptive
Schacter’s Seven Sins of Memory:
1. 3 Sins of Forgetting
1. Absentmindedness—details
2. Transcience—time
3. Blocking—inaccessibility
105
Forgetting
Schacter’s Seven Sins of Memory
(continued):
2. 3 Sins of Distortion
• Misattribution—source
• Suggesstibility—misinformation
• Bias
3. 1 Sin of Intrusion
1. Persistence
106
Encoding Failure
We cannot remember what we do not
encode.
107
ENCODING FAILURE
• Draw two large empty circles, at least four
inches in diameter on a blank sheet of
paper.
• Draw from memory both sides of a U.S.
penny
• Include all the pictorial and alphanumeric
detail you can.
108
ENCODING FAILURE
• SCORE YOUR PENNY DRAWINGS:
– One point for whether each of the eight features
is present
– One point for whether each is located on the
correct side
– One point for each feature that was drawn in
the correct position on the circular area
109
EIGHT FEATURES
Top Side:
Head (Lincoln’s profile, right side)
In God We Trust
Liberty
Bottom Side
Lincoln Memorial
United States of America
E Pluribus Unum
One Cent
110
Other Examples of Possible
Encoding Failure
• What is the color of the top stripe of the
American flag?
• How many sides does the typical wooden
pencil have?
• What hand does the Statue of Liberty hold
her torch?
111
Which penny is real?
112
Storage Decay
Poor durability of stored memories leads to
their decay. Ebbinghaus showed this with
his forgetting curve.
113
Retaining Spanish
Bahrick (1984) showed a similar pattern of
forgetting and retaining over 50 years.
Andrew Holbrooke/ Corbis
114
Retrieval Failure
Although the information is retained in the
memory store, it cannot be accessed.
Tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) is a retrieval failure
phenomenon. Given a cue (What makes blood cells
red?) the subject says the word begins with an H
(hemoglobin).
115
Proactive and Retroactive Interference Activity
Step 1
• Groups 1 & 2—Study List A for
30 seconds.
• Groups 3 and 4—do math
problems for 30 seconds.
116
Proactive and Retroactive Interference Activity
Step 2
• Everyone study List B for 30
seconds.
117
Proactive and Retroactive Interference Activity
Step 3
• Groups 1 and 3—Study List C
for 30 seconds.
• Groups 2 & 4—do math
problems for 30 seconds
118
Proactive and Retroactive Interference Activity
Step 4
Everyone recall list B
119
Proactive and Retroactive Interference
Activity: Results
1
2
3
4
• Group 4: no
interference
• Group 3: retroactive
interference
• Group 2: proactive
interference
• Group 1: proactive and
retroactive interference
120
Proactive and Retroactive Interference Activity
• Retroactive interference = new
interferes with old
• Proactive interference = old interferes
with new
121
Interference
Learning some new information may disrupt
retrieval of other information.
122
Retroactive Interference
Sleep prevents retroactive interference. Therefore, it
leads to better recall.
123
Motivated Forgetting
Motivated Forgetting:
People unknowingly
revise their memories.
Culver Pictures
Repression: A defense
mechanism that banishes
anxiety-arousing
thoughts, feelings, and
memories from
consciousness.
Sigmund Freud
124
Why do we forget?
Forgetting can occur at
any memory stage. We
filter, alter, or lose
much information
during these stages.
125
Memory Construction
While tapping our memories, we filter or fill in
missing pieces of information to make our
recall more coherent.
Misinformation Effect: Incorporating
misleading information into one's memory of
an event.
126
Misinformation and Imagination
Effects
Eyewitnesses reconstruct their memories when
questioned about the event.
Depiction of the actual accident.
127
Misinformation
Group A: How fast were the cars going
when they hit each other?
Group B: How fast were the cars going
when they smashed into each
other?
128
Memory Construction
A week later they were asked: Was there any
broken glass? Group B (smashed into) reported
more broken glass than Group A (hit).
Broken Glass? (%)
50
40
32
30
20
14
10
0
Group A (hit)
Group B (Smashed into)
Verb
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Source Amnesia
Source Amnesia: Attributing an event to the
wrong source that we experienced, heard, read,
or imagined (misattribution).
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Discerning True & False Memories
Just like true perception and illusion, real
memories and memories that seem real are
difficult to discern.
© Simon Niedsenthal
When students formed a happy or angry memory of
morphed (computer blended) faces, they made
the (computer assisted) faces (a), either happier or (b) angrier.
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Memory Activity
Classroom Exercise: Hand-Out 9-9
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False Memories
Repressed or Constructed?
Some adults actually do forget childhood
episodes of abuse.
False Memory Syndrome
A condition in which a person’s identity and
relationships center around a false but strongly
believed memory of a traumatic experience,
which is sometimes induced by well-meaning
therapists.
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Children’s Eyewitness Recall
Children’s eyewitness recall can be unreliable if
leading questions are posed. However, if
cognitive interviews are neutrally worded, the
accuracy of their recall increases. In cases of
sexual abuse, this usually suggests a lower
percentage of abuse.
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Memories of Abuse
Are memories of abuse repressed or
constructed?
Many psychotherapists believe that early
childhood sexual abuse results in repressed
memories.
However, other psychologists question such
beliefs and think that such memories may be
constructed.
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Constructed Memories
Loftus’ research shows that if false memories
(lost at the mall or drowned in a lake) are
implanted in individuals, they construct
(fabricate) their memories.
Don Shrubshell
136
Consensus on Childhood Abuse
Leading psychological associations of the world agree
on the following concerning childhood sexual abuse:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Injustice happens.
Incest and other sexual abuse happens.
People may forget.
Recovered memories are commonplace.
Recovered memories under hypnosis or drugs are
unreliable.
6. Memories of things happening before 3 years of age
are unreliable.
7. Memories, whether real or false, are emotionally
upsetting.
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Improving Memory
1. Study repeatedly to boost long-term recall.
2. Spend more time rehearsing or actively
thinking about the material.
3. Make material personally meaningful.
4. Use mnemonic devices:



associate with peg words — something already
stored
make up a story
chunk — acronyms
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Improving Memory
5. Activate retrieval cues — mentally recreate
the situation and mood.
6. Recall events while they are fresh — before
you encounter misinformation.
7. Minimize interference:
1.
2.
© LWA-Dann Tardiff/ Corbis
Test your own knowledge.
Rehearse and then determine what you do not
yet know.
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