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