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Retrieval Cues
After learning to move a mobile by kicking, infants had their learning reactivated most strongly when retested in the same rather than a different context (Butler & Rovee-Collier, 1989).
9-3 Forgetting & Constructive Memory
Forgetting:9. Explain why the capacity to forget can be beneficial, and discuss the role of encoding
failure and storage decay in the process of forgetting.10. Explain what is meant by retrieval failure, and discuss the effects of interference and
motivated forgetting on retrieval. Constructive Memory11. Describe the evidence for the constructive nature of memory and the impact of
imagination and leading questions on eyewitness recall.12. Discuss the difficulties in discerning true memories from false ones and the reliability
of children’s eyewitness recall.13. Discuss the controversy over reports of repressed and recovered memories of
childhood sexual abuse.
Forgetting
4 types/ Reasons
1. As Encoding Failure
2. Storage Decay (Decay Theory)
3. Retrieval Failure
4. Interference
5. Motivated Forgetting (Repression)
Forgetting
Forgetting as encoding failure Information never enters the long-term memory Age effects: As age inc, encoding dec – Brain less responsive w/
age
Externalevents
Sensorymemory
Short-term
memory
Long-term
memory
Attention
Encoding
Encoding
Encodingfailure leadsto forgetting
Forgetting
Forgetting as encoding failure
Which penny is the real thing?
See p 366 in text
Forgetting-Storage Decay
Forgetting Curve/ Law-
Ebbinghaus forgetting curve over 30 days-- initially rapid, then levels off with time
12345 10 15 20 25 30
10
20
30
40
50
60
0
Time in days since learning list
Percentage oflist retainedwhen relearning
Forgetting Curve <<rem Ebbinghaus gave us this>>
The forgetting curve for Spanish learned in school
Retentiondrops,
then levels off
1 3 5 9½ 14½ 25 35½ 49½Time in years after completion of Spanish course
100%
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Percentage oforiginal
vocabularyretained
Retrieval Failure Forgetting can result from failure to retrieve
information from long-term memory
Externalevents
Attention
Encoding
Encoding
Retrieval failureleads to forgetting
Retrieval
Sensorymemory
Short-termmemory
Long-termmemory
Forgetting as Interference
Learning some items may disrupt retrieval of other information Proactive (forward acting) Interference
disruptive effect of prior learning on recall of new information (eg. Buy new comb lock, Ebbinghaus)
Positive transfer- exception; eg. Latin helps learning of French Retroactive (backwards acting) Interference
disruptive effect of new learning on recall of old information (teacher learning student names of class effects recall of names in previous class)
Sleeping/ Exc minimizes retroactive int
Forgetting as Interference
Forgetting
Retroactive Interference – sleep reduces interference
Without interferingevents, recall isbetter
After sleep
After remaining awake
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8Hours elapsed after learning syllables
90%
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Percentageof syllables
recalled
Forgetting
Forgetting can occur at any memory stage
As we process information, we filter, alter, or lose much of it
Forgetting- Interference
Motivated Forgetting people unknowingly revise memories
Repression defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-
arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories Protects self-concept & minimizes anxiety *researchers think rep rarely really occurs
Memory Construction
“Like a scientist who infers a dinosaur’s appearance from its remains, we infer our past from stored information plus what we now assume.”
Schemas Direct memory construction >>framework for organizing and interpreting
unfamiliar information/ stimuli Restaurant Exp. p372
Memory ConstructionElizabeth Loftus- Memory Researcher
Eyewitnesses reconstruct memories when questioned
Depiction of actual accident
Leading question:“About how fast were the carsgoing when they smashed intoeach other?” (v. control group -hit each other)
Memoryconstruction
Memory Construction
We filter information and fill in missing pieces Misinformation Effect
incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event Can result from suggestibility of leading questions As memory fades (time), misinf becomes easier the effect is so strong that most people find it hard or impossible to
tell the difference b/w real and suggested memories as well tell a story from memory we fill in gaps with logical
assumptions, and the more we recall the experience, the more the assumptions become part of the memory
After retelling story, guessed details get into our memory as if we’ve actually observed them
Memory ConstructionSource Amnesia
when we encode memories we sort diff. aspects of them to diff. parts of the brain
the source of the memory is usually one of the weakest parts of our memory ex. Did an event really happen or do we remember it from a dream? source amnesia (sometimes called source misattribution)- attributing to
the wrong source an event that we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined
Ex. Mr. Science Exp (Debra Poole & Stephen Lindsay)Ex. Ronnie Reagan patriotic campaign speech-misattributed WWII heroic
commander from movie>>both on p 374 text
Memory Construction
Discerning true v. false memories Hippocampus equally involved/ active in false recallingRoediger & McDermott Study (1996):
Presented word lists such as candy, sugar, honey & taste Then asked if they saw sweet Participants swore they did PET Scan showed activity in hippocampus but none in
Temp Cortex(Wernicke’s Area) on false memory No sensory record in Temp Lobe Caveat: This technique only works for recent memories Constructive memories feel real to person telling them Only true way to diff true v. false is w/ physical evidence
or validated reports of an event (eg. written records)
Memory Construction
Memories of Abuse Repressed or Constructed?
Child sexual abuse does occur Some adults do actually forget such episodes
False Memory Syndrome condition in which a person’s identity and relationships
center around a false but strongly believed memory of traumatic experience
sometimes induced by well-meaning therapists
Memory Construction
Children’s Eyewitness Recall Preschoolers more suggestible than older
children/ adults Use “cognitive interviewing” technique to boost
accuracy by 50%(less suggestive ?’s, ask to visualize scene to activate retrieval cues)
Neutral adult must use words they’ll understand Involved adults should not talk with them Stephen Ceci and Maggie Bruck (1995)
Memory Construction
1990s “Memory Wars”Controversy over “The Courage to Heal” and “Memory Worker” Therapists
One woman in a 30 sec therapy session recalled that her father had abused her at 15 months. Roseanne Barr then came forward in 1991 claiming recal sexual abuse beginning in infancy
Who is most often victimized-abused children whose recollections are disbelieved or falsely accused adults whose reputations are ruined?
Memory Construction
Most people can agree on the following: Injustice happens Incest happens Forgetting happens Recovered memories are commonplace Memories recovered under hypnosis or
drugs are especially unreliable Memories of things happening before age 3
are unreliable Memories, whether false or real, are
upsetting
Improve Your Memory
Study repeatedly to boost recall Spend more time rehearsing or
actively thinking about the material Make material personally
meaningful Use mnemonic devices
associate with peg words--something already stored
make up story chunk--acronyms
Improve Your Memory
Activate retrieval cues--mentally recreate situation and mood Recall events while they are fresh-- before you encounter
misinformation Minimize interference Test your own knowledge
rehearse determine what you do not yet know>>humans are overconfident—Self-test especially recall