Chapter07 Cognitive Psych

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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