Memory in Everyday Life

Flashbulb Memory In Memory Everyday Life Cues Repression Trace Decay Vivid, detailed lasting memory CONWAY – Margaret Thatchers resignation Opportunity sample, interviews(2weeks – 11months) Accuracy and detail of recall, F:Most had flashbulb memory Memory In Everyday Life State = state of mind(encoding) Goodwin - Heavy drinkers Context = environment/situation(encoding Chewing gum study Cues Repression Unconscious process removing threatening memories Levinger + Clark emotionally charged words vs neutral(time of recall + GSR) -ve words = longer recall and higher GSR = repression Trace Decay Loss of info. already encoded in the LTM STM = passage of time LTM = through disuse Memories in the LTM are lost due to interference Retroactive – new interferes with old Proactive – old interferes with new Studies on encoding, Baddely and Conway show similarity of information leads to interference Interference theory

Anxiety Factors Affecting Eyewitness Testimony Leading Q Loftus – Weapon Focus Participant in a waiting room, listening to a heated argument Person walk out with a letter opener covered in blood vs a pen Recall of perpetrator less(letter opener), high(pen High anxiety situations = focus on weapon:individual Leading Q Loftus – effect of adjectives on recall Q about a car accident substituting “hit” for “smashed” Speed faster with “smashed”: “hit”. “smashed” = broken glass(there wasn’t any) Misleading Info Loftus – Participants were asked a Q related to a clip substituting the word “a” for “the” e.g. was a car going above the speed limit vs was the car going above the speed limit Recall higher for “the” : “a” = social pressures Age Brimacombe – shown video to young/old adults Old = less accurate recall : young Young = More likely to answer wrong to Q in legalese = More susceptible to social pressure (repetition of question) = Broffenbrenner – prone to misleading information

Factors Affecting Eyewitness Testimony Cognitive Interview Technique CIT increases the recall of eyewitness’ Geiselman Recreate state and context cues Recall info. in any order Recall all relevant info Recall info. from different perspectives Fisher Minimise distractions Encourage slow talking Tailor in pauses

Memory Improvement Organisation Makes use of pre-existing knowledge Categorical Clustering Info presented in categories has the tendency to be recalled in categories Mandler Memory and organisation are correlated No more than 7 categories (Takes account of George Millers work on capacity in the STM 7+/-2 therefore is valid to everyday life) The categories should be semantic (Takes account of Baddely’s work on encoding in the STM and LTM therefore is more reliable) Subjective organisation People impose their own organisational structure upon a list of random words Schemas prove that organisation doesn’t always improve memory, schemas interfere proactively with memory, hindering recall A schema is part of the internal working model, a category/generalisation of our lives Soolin + Doolin Told a story to participants about an evil dictator Asked Q. F: Participants answered the Q. in relation to Hitler, giving false answers.

Memory Improvement Mneumonic - Visual Imagery Method of Loci Unrelated words associate with locations Lawrence Participants could recall 95% of a list of 40 words Not very good for trying to remember complex information in the real word, which consists of more than just single words, therefore it lacks ecological validity Makes simple information easy to recall with the use of context cues, therefore is an effective form of memory improvement Mneumonic - Visual Imagery Pegword Method Unrelated words associated with a pegword A pegword rhymes with a number on the list then interacts with the unrelated word = remember the pegword Morris Twice as many words recalled when using : when not Only useful when trying to remember words in lists, therefore has a limited usage in real life Only certain words can be used with this method, such as neutral words e.g. keys, dog. Works very little with semantic words or those which are abstract therefore has limited usage in real life To be used efficiently, it needs extensive training, otherwise it is ineffective at fast memory retrieval and is of little use, and seen a disadvantageous in memory recall

Memory Improvement Mneumonic - Verbal Story Method Unrelated words in correct order by linking them together Clark Effective method because it imposes meaning onto the material therefore semantic encoding into the LTM Recall of unrelated words is of little value in everyday life so has little ecological validity outside the laboratory Requires training for it to be effective, therefore without training it is of little use, and isn’t a rapid form of memory improvement