36 Questions
What percentage of people agreed with the statement 'Human memory works like a video camera, accurately recording the events we see and hear so we can review and interpret them later'?
63%
What percentage of people agreed with the statement 'Once you have experienced an event and formed a memory of it, that memory does not change'?
48%
What is the term used to describe memory for specific experiences from our life, which can include both episodic and semantic components?
Autobiographical Memory
What components does Autobiographical Memory (AM) consist of?
Sensory components, spatial aspects, thoughts, and emotions
What did Cabeza and coworkers compare in their study?
Brain activation caused by autobiographical memory and laboratory memory
What did the participants in Cabeza's study view in the second phase?
Both own-photos and lab-photos
What is the term for the phenomenon where attention can be narrowed by specific stimuli, such as a weapon, leading to lower memory?
Weapons focus
Who conducted the study that demonstrated errors in eyewitness testimony due to familiarity, known as source monitoring?
Ross et al.
What is the term for the effect where post-identification feedback can increase witnesses' confidence, influencing jurors and posing a problem for the criminal justice system?
Post-identification feedback effect
What technique helps witnesses recreate the situation present at the crime scene, by having them place themselves back in the scene to remember the scene more accurately?
Cognitive interview
What is the term used to describe the power of sensory experience to elicit autobiographical memories, often accompanied by feelings of nostalgia and experienced as being involuntary?
Proust-effect
What is the term for the phenomenon where music can activate memories of Alzheimer’s Disease patients, as demonstrated in the documentary 'Alive Inside'?
Music-Enhanced Autobiographical Memories
What is the term for unconscious plagiarism due to lack of recognition of original source?
Cryptoamnesia
What is the process of determining the origins of memories, knowledge, or beliefs called?
Source monitoring
What can introducing misleading postevent information affect?
Constructive memory
What is the term for the process of more recent learning interfering with memory for something in the past?
Retroactive interference
What is the term for the misleading information presented after an event that can change how the event is described later?
Misinformation effect
What did the Wells & Bradfield (1998) study demonstrate about eyewitness testimony?
It can be inaccurate due to mistaken identity and the constructive nature of memory
Which theory of flashbulb memories does not hold, as memories about flashbulb events change over time, suggesting inaccuracy?
The
What did Bartlett's
Memory undergoes change over time, incorporating knowledge and experiences
What did Brewer & Treyens' study demonstrate about memory?
Schema knowledge can lead to false memories
What did Bower et al.'s study demonstrate about memory?
Scripts can influence memory for experiences
What role do inferences and schemas play in memory construction?
They play a role in memory construction and can lead to false memories
What can affect flashbulb memories, potentially introducing errors and influencing the constructive nature of memory?
Rehearsal and media coverage
What brain structure is more activated when recalling own-photos in autobiographical memory?
Prefrontal cortex (self-referential, information about self)
What is the cultural life-script hypothesis related to the reminiscence bump?
Personal events are easier to recall when they fit the cultural life script
What is the cognitive hypothesis related to the reminiscence bump?
Encoding is better during periods of rapid change that are followed by stability
What does the presence of a weapon during a crime scene result in, according to the text?
Decrease in memory for other details of the crime scene
What is the characteristic of flashbulb memories, as described in the text?
Highly emotional, vivid, and very detailed
What brain structure has higher activity when recalling emotional words, according to fMRI experiments?
Amygdala
What is the term for highly emotional, vivid, and very detailed memories of shocking, important events?
Flashbulb memories
Which brain structure is activated more by own-photos, demonstrating the richness of autobiographical memories?
Hippocampus
What is the term for the enhanced memory for events between 10 and 30 years of age experienced by participants over the age of 40?
Reminiscence bump
What hypothesis suggests that personal events are easier to recall when they fit the cultural life script?
Cultural life-script hypothesis
What does the reminiscence bump may occur due to?
Both A and B
What does emotion help with, as emotionally arousing events are remembered more easily and vividly?
Memory consolidation
Study Notes
Flashbulb Memories and the Constructive Nature of Memory
- Flashbulb memories are highly emotional and remembered for long periods of time with vivid and detailed recollection.
- Brown and Kulik's procedure for studying flashbulb memories was flawed as they didn't verify the accuracy of memories immediately after the event.
- The "Now Print" theory of flashbulb memories does not hold, as memories about flashbulb events change over time, suggesting inaccuracy.
- People's confidence in the accuracy of flashbulb memories remains high over time, but in reality, there is no difference in accuracy between flashbulb and regular memories.
- The special nature of flashbulb memories may be due to the emotional impact, which enhances subjective memory but may decrease memory for details.
- Rehearsal and media coverage can affect flashbulb memories, potentially introducing errors and influencing the constructive nature of memory.
- Memory is constructed based on what actually happened and influenced by knowledge, experiences, and expectations.
- Bartlett's "war of the ghosts" experiment demonstrated how memory undergoes change over time, incorporating knowledge and experiences.
- Memory can be influenced by pragmatic inferences and schemas, which are developed through experiences in different situations.
- Schema knowledge can lead to false memories, as shown in Brewer & Treyens' study where participants indicated the presence of books in an office when there were none.
- Scripts, conceptions of sequences of actions, can also influence memory, as seen in Bower et al.'s study on scripts for experiences like going to a restaurant or playing tennis.
- Inferences and schemas play a role in memory construction, and memory can be influenced by implied information consistent with the to-be-remembered information.
Memory and Emotion in Autobiographical Memory
- Both types of photos activated similar brain structures, including the Medial Temporal Lobe (MTL) and Parietal Cortex.
- Own-photos activated more of the Prefrontal Cortex and Hippocampus, demonstrating the richness of autobiographical memories.
- Significant events in a person’s life, like the first date or the birth of a child, are remembered well.
- Participants over the age of 40 experienced a "reminiscence bump," with enhanced memory for events between 10 and 30 years of age.
- The reminiscence bump may occur due to the development of self-identity and rapid changes during adolescence and young adulthood.
- Another explanation for the reminiscence bump is that encoding is better during periods of rapid change followed by stability.
- The cultural life-script hypothesis suggests that personal events are easier to recall when they fit the cultural life script.
- Emotion helps with memory, as emotionally arousing events are remembered more easily and vividly.
- Emotion improves memory consolidation, supported by evidence from animal and human research.
- Emotions can also impair memory, as they can cause a focus of attention on important objects and draw attention away from others.
- Flashbulb memories are highly emotional, vivid, and very detailed memories of shocking, important events, such as 9/11 or the Kennedy assassination.
- Brown and Kulik's study on President Kennedy's assassination demonstrated how emotional events can create flashbulb memories.
Test your knowledge of flashbulb memories and the constructive nature of memory with this quiz. Explore the accuracy and details of flashbulb memories, the impact of emotional events, and the influence of rehearsal, media coverage, and schemas on memory construction. Dive into key experiments and theories that shed light on memory's malleable nature.
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