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2010 by W. W. Norton & Co., Inc.
Remembering Complex Events
Chapter 7Lecture Outline
Chapter 7: Remembering Complex Events
Lecture OutlineMemory ErrorsAvoiding Memory ErrorsAutobiographical Memory
Chapter 7: Remembering Complex Events
In this chapter we consider some of the errors that can arise when people try to remember episodes that are related to other things they know and have experienced
We also consider some of the factors that are directly pertinent to memory as it functions in day-to-day life
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Memory Errors
An example of a memory errorAirplane lost power to two enginesCrashed into side of building in Amsterdam. 193 participants interviewed 10 months laterMore than half of the participants reported
seeing the crash on TV
Memory Errors
Participants often report seeing books or other typical items in an office
Existing knowledge
Memory Errors
A hypothesis regarding memory errors
Existing knowledge EventTime
E V
E
N
T
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Memory Errors
Intrusion errors
Existing knowledgeExisting knowledge Event
TimeE
V
E
N
T
New information
Memory Errors
Nancy arrived at the cocktail party. She looked around the room to see who was there. She went to talk with her professor. She felt she had to talk to him but was a little nervous about just what to say. A group of people started to play charades. Nancy went over and had some refreshments. The hors doeuvres were good but she was not interested in talking to the rest of the people at the party. After a while she decided she had had enough and left the party.
Memory Errors
Nancy woke up feeling sick again, and she wondered if she really were pregnant. How would she tell the professor she had been seeing? And the money was another problem.
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Memory Errors
Better memory, more intrusionsWorse memory, fewer intrusions
Memory Errors
Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) procedure.Read the list bed, rest, awake, tired, dream,
wake, snoozeParticipants recall sleep even though it was
not on the list
Memory Errors
Very good memory Intrusions
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Memory Errors
Highway Schema
Palm tree breaks schema
Memory Errors
Schemata can help us when remembering an eventWhat was the first thing that happened
The last time you went to a restaurant The last time you went to your favorite restaurant The last time you went to a restaurant on vacation
Memory Errors
However, schemata can also cause us to make errors when remembering an eventFor example, you might remember seeing
magazines in a dentists office even if there were none
Memories are regularized
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Memory Errors
A classic demonstration of the effects of schemata on memory was provided by Frederick Bartlett (1932)
Memory Errors
One night two young men from Egulac went down to the river to hunt seals, and while they were there it became foggy and calm. Then they heard war cries, and they thought; Maybe this is a war party. They escaped to the shore and hid behind a log. Now canoes came up, and they heard the noise of paddles and saw one canoe coming to them. There were five men in the canoe, and they said: What do you think? We wish to take you along. We are going up the river to make war on the people. One of the young men said: I have no arrows. Arrows are in the canoe,they said. I will not go along. I might be killed. My relatives do not know where I have gone. But you, he said, turning to the other, may go with them. So one of the young men went, but the other returned home. And the warriors went on up the river to a town on the other side of Kalama. The people came down to the water and they began to fight, and many were killed. But presently the young man heard one of the warriors say: Quick, let us go home; that Indian has been hit. Now he thought, Oh, they are ghosts. He did not feel sick, but they said he had been shot. So the canoes went back to Egulac, and the young man went ashore to his house and made a fire. And he told everybody and said: Behold I accompanied the ghosts, and we went to fight. Many of our fellows were killed, and many of those who attacked us were killed. They said I was hit, and I did not feel sick. He told it all, and then he became quiet. When the sun rose, he fell down. Something black came out of his mouth. His face became contorted. The people jumped up and cried. He was dead. (Bartlett, 1932, p. 65)
Memory Errors
Indians were out fishing for seals in the Bay of Manpapan, when along came five other Indians in a war-canoe. They were going fighting. Come with us, said the five to the two, and fight. I cannot come, was the answer of the one, for I have an old mother at home who is dependent upon me. The other also said he could not come, because he had no arms. That is no difficulty the others replied, for we have plenty in the canoe with us; so he got into the canoe and went with them. In a fight soon afterwards this Indian received a mortal wound. Finding that his hour was come, he cried out that he was about to die. Nonsense, said one of the others, you will not die. But he did.
Details altered
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Memory Errors
Native American stories presented to British participants
The gist of the stories was recalled but details were altered
Memory Errors
Regularization via schemataBooks are remembered in an officeFootage of a plane crash is remembered
Memory Errors
Another line of research has investigated the misinformation effect
Event Misleading informationTime
Misleading information becomes part of event
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Memory Errors
Loftus and Palmer, 1974View a series of slides depicting a car
accidentHow fast were the cars going when they _____ each other?
Memory Errors
Loftus and Palmer, 1974How fast were the cars going when they _____ each other?
Memory Errors
Other studies have shown that false autobiographical memories can be implanted, such as participants believing they had become ill eating egg salad as children
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Memory Errors
Entire events can be implanted into memory Imagery can be very compelling
Memory Errors
A picture can create a memory
Memory Errors
Participants remembered misbehaving in class.
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Memory Errors
Memory confidenceThere is little relationship between our
confidence in our memories and their accuracy
Memory Errors
Participants witnessed a crimeLater provided with feedback
Feedback affected confidence but not accuracy
Avoiding Memory Errors
Other studies have demonstrated cases in which memories were surprisingly accurate
What factors determine whether a memory will be accurate or subject to errors?
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Avoiding Memory Errors
The feelings of remembering and knowingRemembering is more likely with real
memoriesKnowing is less likelyHowever, there are no guarantees
Avoiding Memory Errors
Retention intervalthe amount of time that elapsed between initial learning and subsequent retrievalSchematic knowledge fills in older memories,
making them less reliable
Avoiding Memory Errors
It takes longer to relearn information after a longer retention interval
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Avoiding Memory Errors
Why memories may weaken with timeDecaymemories may fade or erode Interferencenewer learning may disrupt
older memoriesRetrieval failurethe memory is intact but
cannot be accessed
Avoiding Memory Errors
Number of games
Lower recall
Avoiding Memory Errors
Hypnosis makes people more open to misinformation
Memories are not recovered, they are created
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Avoiding Memory Errors
Rather than regressing, the adult draws what he or she thinks a 6-year -ld would draw
Avoiding Memory Errors
Instead, the method of recovering lostmemories that is the most grounded in research is to provide a diverse set of retrieval cuesContext reinstatementVisualization
Avoiding Memory Errors
Summary of memory errors People can confidently remember things that never
happened Memories become embedded in schematic
knowledge Schemata provide organization and retrieval paths Forgetting may be a consequence of how our general
knowledge is formed: Specific episodes merge in memory to form schemata
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Autobiographical Memory
Autobiographical memory refers to memory of episodes and events in a persons own life
Autobiographical Memory
The self-reference effectbetter memory for information relevant to oneself
The self-schema is a set of beliefs and memories about oneself
Autobiographical Memory
As with general memories, memories about oneself are subject to errorsMemories about ourselves are a mix of
genuine recall and schema-based reconstruction
Our autobiographical memories are also biased to emphasize consistency and positive traits
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Autobiographical Memory
Emotion and memory
Emotional events Amygdala Better consolidation
Autobiographical Memory
Causes of better memory for emotional eventsNarrowing of attentionMore rehearsal
Autobiographical Memory
Flashbulb memories
Are they accurate?
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Autobiographical Memory
Some flashbulb memories contain large-scale errorsA group of college students were interviewed
one day after the 1986 space shuttle Challenger explosion (Neisser & Harsch, 1992)
Five years later, confidence was high but there were may inaccuracies in their reports
Autobiographical Memory
Other flashbulb memories are well rememberedConsequentialitywhether it matters to a
persons life Increases rehearsal and thus memory
Autobiographical Memory
Traumatic memoriesPhysiological arousal increases consolidationCan be lost
Head injuries, sleep deprivation, drugs/alcohol, andcontroversiallyrepression
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Autobiographical Memory
Repression Traumatic memories, can be lost and then
recoveredLost memories could be lost voluntarily or due
to ordinary retrieval failureHowever, memories may be due to
misinformation
Autobiographical Memory
Very stable memories
Autobiographical Memory
Memory for cognitive psychology class (Conway et al., 1991)
ConsiderableLoss for three years
Then fairly stable memory
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Autobiographical Memory
PermastorePermanent memoriesMay be aided by rehearsal and continuing to
learn
Autobiographical Memory
Most memorable period of life = high school through early college
Autobiographical Memory
Certain principles of autobiographical memory reflect more general memory principles The importance of rehearsal The formation of generalized schemata from
individual memory episodes The potential for intrusion errors and susceptibility to
misinformation Other principles of autobiographical memory
may be distinct The role of emotion in shaping autobiographical
memory may be less applicable to other kinds of memory