Malleability Of Memory PDF

Malleability of Memory Remembering Complex Events Lecture Outline Memory Errors What are they and why do they happen? Avoiding Memory Errors Is it possible? Do memory errors have real-life consequences? What memories are the “strongest” Autobiographical...

Malleability of Memory Remembering Complex Events Lecture Outline Memory Errors What are they and why do they happen? Avoiding Memory Errors Is it possible? Do memory errors have real-life consequences? What memories are the “strongest” Autobiographical Memory Flashbulb memory Are these “strong” memories safe and error-free? Memory is malleable Memory is not like a video recorder. Memory is a reconstructive process. Memories are distributed all along the cortex. When you recollect something, you find the memory pieces and put them together, but every time you do, it can come out slightly different. Memory Errors Memories are without boarders Organized by meaning New info is linked to old memories and knowledge Easy for new info to be added to an existing event E Time E V T New Event Existing knowledge N Intrusion errors - existing knowledge intrudes into the remembered event  False Memory A memory of an event that never happened.  ZAPS: False Memory Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) Study phase: Semantically related word list E.g. “bed, rest, awake, tired..” The Critical Word (e.g. Sleep) is absent Test phase: Recall or Recognition Result: People “remember” the Critical Word (e.g. Sleep) from the original list, but it was never there! Intrusion error Words on the list, Words not on the like bed, rest, list, like SLEEP wake, etc. (critical word)  Memory Errors Resistance is Futile. We are all doomed! This shouldn’t be taken fatalistically, but we should properly acknowledge the malleable nature of memory People still “remember” the Critical Word even when warned Warned before the Study Phase False Memories still created Warned before the Test Phase Many more false memories created False Memories can be created both in encoding and retrieval – due to spreading activation of the semantic network  Schematic Knowledge A schema (plural, schemata) is knowledge that describes what is typical or frequent Schemas can help Schemata can help us when remembering/reconstructing a memory of an event. Your schema of a restaurant : What is typical? Setting/ general framework: chairs, table, utensils, etc. Think: Scene / Stage Actions: finding a table, being given a menu, ordering, etc. Scripts - sequence of behaviors that is typical/frequent for a person in a particular situation. Think: Like an actor’s script  Schemas can lead to Memory Errors Schemas can lead to memory errors Brewer and Treyens (1981) P’s asked to wait in an office They recalled seeing books and other items typical of an office But those items had not been present. Memories are regularized  Schemas can lead to Memory Errors The War of the Ghosts: Bartlett (1932) P’s read a folk tale, and then re-told it several times. Bartlett looked at changes in the multiple re-telling Is Memory Reproductive or Reconstructive? Reproductive memory — a highly accurate, verbatim recording of an event. Bartlett: If reproductive, errors should be random. Reconstructive memory — remembering by combining elements of experience with existing knowledge. Bartlett: If reconstructive, errors should systematic. Errors should become more like the source of the reconstruction (e.g. existing knowledge, schema) Memory Errors Results: Details that did not make sense were left out or changed If you present information that does not follow a script, people “normalize” the information to a script they know (Bartlett, 1932). Misinformation Effect: memory changes due to post-event information More ways for memory to be corrupted  Memory Errors: Misinformation effect Process Misleading Witness Event + Misleading information Time information becomes part of (after event) event Example of Retroactive Interference and Source Confusion/ Misattribution  Loftus and Palmer, 1974 View a series of slides of a car accident Misinformation Question Wording “How fast were the cars going when they _____ each other?” Immediate effect: those who heard “smashed into” gave faster speeds compared to those who heard “contacted.” Delayed effect: After 1 week, recall the event “smashed into” more likely to recall broken glass and make other elaborations that were not in the images  Real World Implications Leading Questions and Witnesses Asking leading questions to witnesses may alter their memory of an event The wrong person may be wrongly imprisoned.  Source Misattribution: Memory Errors Misinformation Acceptance - Acceptance of misinformation, due to source misattribution Source Misattribution (Source confusion) - Can’t accurately identify the source of info and attribute it wrongly E.g. Did I remember the car was speeding because it was, or because the police officer suggested it? False Food Memories Subjects completed questionnaires in the laboratory personality questionnaire and a Food History Inventory 1 week later they were told the results of the computer generated a profile of their early childhood experiences with food. IV: Negative: Some told they got sick while eating a hard-boiled egg, a pickle, or peach yogurt Positive: Some told they loved asparagus as a child Subjects completed the Food History Inventory again (after feedback). DV: Food preference rating. Result: Those in the Negative condition rated those particular foods lower than before and those in the Positive condition rated asparagus higher than they originally did. Entire events can be implanted into memory Repetition and Imagery can be very compelling (related to the Illusion of Truth)  False Childhood Memory Through Repetition and Misinformation: Loftus and Ketcham P’s given stories “provided” by Phase 4: P’s told that one of the family members stories was false False story : Lost in the Mall at age 5 Some failed to identify false mall event as false instead picked a true event as Phase 1: Write down all you can false remember Phase 2 and 3: Interviews about Memory Errors due to Misinformation each story Time and repetition: 2nd Interview: False Mall story Hard to differentiate elaborated upon, included between what happened and specific details, e.g. man’s “plaid what was imagined shirt” False Childhood Memory Through Repetition and Misinformation: Hyman, Husband, & Billings Interviews of people’s childhood memories Included some real memories (obtained from parents) and some false events. After time and repetition The false information becomes incorporated as if it were a real memory. False Childhood Memory Through Imagery Childhood memories Some memories that you possess of your childhood may have been created from Hearing family stories about you Seeing photos of events with you in it Not only can the Witness’s memory be altered, but the suspect’s memory may also be altered. False confessions  False Confessions Voluntary false confessions – given without prompting Compliant false confessions – given to escape situation Internalized false confessions - the person genuinely believes they committed the crime Result of highly suggestive interrogation techniques. Same way people may “uncover” repressed memories though uninformed therapist suggestions.  Confirmation Bias – the tendency to search for, interpret, or prioritize information in a way that confirms one's beliefs or expectations  Kassin, Goldstein, & Savitsky (2003) The presumption of guilt underling police interrogations can lead to behavioral confirmation. IV: Suspects Guilty or Innocent IV: Interrogators Presume Guilt or Innocence Given training manuals used by investigators to get confessions. Inbau, Reid, Buckley, and Jayne's (2001) Criminal Interrogation and Confessions Use in training law enforcement professionals in the Reid Technique (www.reid.com) Kassin, Goldstein, & Savitsky (2003) DV: The Q’s the interrogators used Result Interrogators armed with guilty as opposed to innocent expectations used more: guilt-presumptive questions interrogation techniques judged the suspect to be guilty pressure to get a confession-particularly when paired with innocent suspects. Kassin, Goldstein, & Savitsky (2003) Phase II Neutral observers listened to recordings of the suspect, interrogator, or both. Results Suspects in the guilty expectations condition were viewed as more defensive and more guilty regardless of actual guilt! Ramifications A presumption of guilt sets in motion a process of behavioral confirmation expectations influence the interrogator's behavior, the suspect's behavior, and ultimately the judgments of neutral observers.  Autobiographical Memory Episodic and semantic memories of a person’s own life Autobiographical Memory Self-reference effect Better memory for information relevant to oneself than other memories Self-schema A set of beliefs and memories about oneself Autobiographical Memory As with general memories, memories about oneself are subject to errors Mix of genuine recall and schema-based reconstruction Biased: emphasize consistency and positive traits Are Memories that Involve Emotion Different? Flashbulb Memories - memories of extraordinary clarity, typically for highly emotional events. Involve both: Hippocampus & Amygdala Are they reconstructive too? Space Shuttle Challenger Explosion Phase 1 The day after the event “Write down everything you remember” “Rate your confidence in everything you write down.” Phase 2 5 years after event “Write down everything you remember” “Rate your confidence in everything you write down.” Phase 3 Original recall shown to participants Confidence was high but there were may inaccuracies in their reports. Autobiographical Memory Other flashbulb memories are well remembered Consequentiality—if the event matters directly to YOUR life, then the event is more likely to be remembered well. Increased rehearsal and thus memory Autobiographical Memory Traumatic memories Physiological arousal increases consolidation But they can be lost Head injuries, sleep deprivation, drugs/alcohol, Controversially—“repression”  Autobiographical Memory Repression - Traumatic memories, can be “lost” (voluntarily) and then “recovered” Can hypnosis be used to recover repressed memories? Hypnosis makes people more open to misinformation Memories are not recovered, they are created Avoiding Memory Errors Recovering “lost” memories: Context reinstatement (to overcome retrieval failure) Visualization But again, these methods may also lead to the creation of false memories. Leading questions Repetition Vivid imagery Sources of Details That Could Affect Memory Popular writings and other media Therapists‘ suggestions  The difficulty of Repressed Memories is that they often cannot be verified (cannot be tested). False memories can feel just as real as other memories. Memory Confidence ≠ Memory Accuracy