3/20/2014 Seven Sins of Memory Memory Retrieval 2 Seven Sins of Memory Dan Schacter (Harvard) Compared seven common memory errors to deadly sins If you avoid these you are rewarded with good memory But, sinning is not all bad and serves a purpose How good is everyday memory? Shepard (1967) Shepard (1983) Patterson and Baddeley (1977) Seven Sins of Memory The sins Transience Absent Mindedness Blocking Misattribution Suggestibility Bias Persistence Each sin tells us something about how memory works 1 3/20/2014 Transience Deterioration of memory Hermann von Ebbinghaus (1885) Studied meaningless, nonsense syllables ( wuj ) Tried to recall syllables Forgetting curve Absent Mindedness Lapses of attention resulting in poor encoding Change blindness Inattentional blindness Simons & Chabris (1999) Hyman, et al. (2010), “ Did You See the Unicycling Clown?... ” Blocking When trying to retrieve memory, something blocks access Examples Proactive interference Retroactive interference Release from PI shows we can unblock Tip of the Tongue phenomenon von Restorff effect 2 3/20/2014 Blocking Tulving and Pearlstone (1966) Related to von Restorff effect As number of memorized items per category increases, memory for individual items decreases Subjects studied lists of 12, 24, or 48 words For each length the number of items/category was 1, 2 or 4 Free recall vs. category cued recall Blocking Tulving and Pearlstone (1966) Results Number of items/category influenced cue effectiveness More distinct a cue = better memory 36 Cued Recall Free Recall 32 28 24 20 16 12 Mean # Words Recalled # Words Mean 8 4 1 2 4 1 2 4 1 2 4 12 Items 24 Items 48 Items List Length and Number of Items Per Category Blocking Retrieval induced forgetting Anderson, Bjork & Bjork (1994) Intervening test of some items inhibits memory for other items Three phases to the experiment Study Phase Practice Phase Test Phase Condition Drink Unpracticed-unrelated item (NRp) Vodka --- Drink _____ Unpracticed-unrelated item (NRp) Rum --- Drink _____ Unpracticed-unrelated item (NRp) Gin --- Drink _____ Unpracticed-unrelated item (NRp) Bourbon --- Drink _____ Unpracticed-unrelated item (NRp) Ale --- Drink _____ Unpracticed-unrelated item (NRp) Whiskey --- Drink _____ Unpracticed-unrelated item (NRp) Fruit Tomato --- Fruit _____ Unpracticed-related item (Rp-) Strawberry --- Fruit _____ Unpracticed-related item (Rp-) Banana --- Fruit _____ Unpracticed-related item (Rp-) Orange Fruit Or_____ Fruit _____ Practiced Item (Rp+) Lemon Fruit Le_____ Fruit _____ Practiced Item (Rp+) Pineapple Fruit Pi______ Fruit _____ Practiced Item (Rp+) 3 3/20/2014 Blocking Anderson, Bjork & Bjork (1994) Memory better for NRp items than Rp- items Suppression or “inhibition” of unpracticed category items 100 80 FRUIT DRINK 60 40 20 orange banana vodka whiskey % Correct % Correct Recall 0 Rp+ Rp- NRp Rp+ 81% Rp- 40.3% NRp 56% NRp 56% Misattribution Assigning memory to the wrong source Bystander effect Attributing the actions of one person to another Not the same bystander effect as in social psychology Memory conjunction error s Combining/blending information from two sources Study: spaniel varnish Retrieve: Spanish Misattribution Payne, Jacoby and Lambert (2004) Examined influence of stereotypical black names versus white names on memory for occupations Memories of events are not isolated and independent 4 3/20/2014 Suggestibility Tendency to incorporate information (often misleading) into our recollections Leading questions by attorneys Coercive questioning by police “That was a nice blue shirt Bob was wearing.” Loftus and Palmer (1974) Misinformation Effect Video of car accident “About how fast were the cars going when they _____ each other ?” hit, smashed , collided, bumped , or contacted Suggestibility Loftus and Palmer (1974) Results Speed estimates were influenced by the verbs “severity” 45 43 41 39 37 35 33 31 29 27 Mean Mean Estimate Speed (mph) 25 Contacted Hit Bumped Collided Smashed Verb Used in Question Suggestibility Loftus and Palmer (1974) Results Question wording also causes us to think something was present “Was there any broken glass in the accident? ” Verb Used in Sentence “Smashed” “Hit” Saw Broken Yes n = 16 n = 7 Glass? No n = 34 n 43 5 3/20/2014 Bias Feelings, beliefs, and worldview distort memory for events Hindsight bias (hindsight is always 20/20) “Feel like we knew something all along” Bryant and Brockway (1997) Examined hindsight bias of the OJ Simpson verdict Asked about likelihood of guilt 2-hours before and 2-days after Ronald Regan as the ‘deficit and unemployment fighter’ PLEASE don’t get me started on this…I BEG YOU!!!! Persistence Remembering things we wish we could forget White bear phenomenon Associated with post-traumatic stress disorder False Memory Encoding items related to a critical item/event can lead one to falsely remember seeing that item/event Deese, Roedigger & McDermott (DRM) False Memory Effect Study a list of words related to a critical lure Recall or recognize the list items Studied item Critical lure Non-studied associate Studied Item Non-Studied Associate Critical Lure 65% 14% 41% 6 3/20/2014 False Memory Activation/source-monitoring account Associates activate the lure during encoding During retrieval, subjects have difficulty determining the source of activation of the critical lure snooze pillow night SLEEP rest dream wake 7.