Unit VII: Cognition Module 33 Forgetting, Memory Construction & Memory Improvement Forgetting 33-1 Encoding Failure 33-1 We cannot remember what we do not encode. Storage Decay 33-1 • Poor durability of stored memories leads to their decay. • Ebbinghaus’ research: Retrieval Failure 33-1 Although the information is retained in the memory store, it cannot be accessed. Tip-of-the-tongue is a retrieval failure phenomenon: Given a cue (What makes blood cells red?) the subject says the word begins with an H (hemoglobin). Interference 33-1 Amnesia 33-1 • Anterograde amnesia – can recall the past, but cannot form new memories • Some people with anterograde amnesia can form new implicit memories (how to do something), but will have no conscious recall of learning the new skill • Retrograde amnesia – cannot recall the past (memories stored in long-term memory) Repression 33-1 • Sigmund Freud suggested that we may banish unpleasant memories from our consciousness as a defense mechanism • Current research indicates that this rarely, if ever, occurs • Memories of traumatic experiences are often the most challenging to forget Memory Construction Errors 33-2 Memory Construction 33-2 • Memory is not precise: we infer our past from stored information plus what we imagined later, expected, saw, and heard • Information acquired after an event alters memory of the event; we often construct memories as we encode them and every time we “replay” them Misinformation Effect 33-2 • When exposed to misleading information, we tend to misremember • When it was falsely suggested to university students that they became ill as children after eating spoiled egg salad, they became less likely to eat egg salad sandwiches Misinformation 33-2 Elizabeth Loftus’s research: 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? Memory Construction 33-2 A week later they were asked: Was there any broken glass? Group B (smashed into) reported more broken glass than Group A (hit). 50 40 32 30 20 14 10 Broken Glass? (%) BrokenGlass? 0 Group A (hit) Group B (Smashed into) Verb Source Amnesia 33-2 • Attributing an event that we experienced, heard, read, or imagined to the wrong ? source. • Source amnesia also helps explain déjà vu. Eyewitness Testimony 33-2 • Memory construction helps explain why 79% of 200 convicts exonerated later by DNA testing had been misjudged based on faulty eyewitness testimony Children’s Eyewitness Recall 33-3 Children’s Eyewitness Recall 33-3 • Children’s eyewitness recall can be unreliable if leading questions are posed. • However, if questioned in neutral words they can understand, children often accurately recall what happened to them. Consensus on Childhood Abuse 33-3 Leading psychological associations of the world agree on the following concerning childhood sexual abuse: 1. Injustice happens. 2. Incest and other sexual abuse happens. 3. People may forget. 4. Recovered memories are commonplace. 5. 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, can be emotionally upsetting. p. 351-352 Improving Memory 33-4 Improving Memory 33-4 1. Study repeatedly to boost long-term recall. 2. Spend more time rehearsing or actively thinking about the material. 3. Make material personally meaningful. *mindlessly repeating someone else’s words while taking notes is relatively ineffective* 4. Use mnemonic devices: a) associate with something already stored b) make up a story c) chunk — acronyms Improving Memory 33-4 5. Activate retrieval cues — mentally recreate the situation and mood. 6. Recall events while they are fresh — before you encounter misinformation. 7. Minimize interference: a) Test your own knowledge. b) Rehearse and then determine what you do not yet know..