Why Our Memory Fails Us Psychology Miss Gardner

Warm-Up What are some reasons that our memory might fail us?

Memory Disorders Overview Any illness can cause memory ipairment Any time that concentration is disrupted, memory will be affected Disorders that affect the memory number around 50.

Alzheimer’s Disease Progressive deterioration of the brain Elderly No known cause Main effects on memory

Alzheimer’s videos-alzheimers#7 videos-alzheimers#13

Alzheimer’s Disease Symptoms: 1. Unawareness of memory problems 2. Confusion 3. Short-term question repetition 4. Getting lost in familiar areas 5. Forgetting a) who they are b) memories from younger years c) meaning of words d) simple tasks

Treatment for Alzheimer’s No known cure Mental exercises as prevention Medications for symptoms Investigation of supplements (fish oil, etc.)

Amnesia Overview Definition: Loss of memory Temporary or permanent Causes: injury, shock, fatigue, illness, repression, or drugs

Amnesia in the Movies

Anterograde Amnesia Occurs after an injury or trauma Individual cannot form new memories of new events Implicit memory is preserved Clive!!!

Anterograde Amnesia

Retrograde Amnesia Inability to remember events before a trauma or injury May stretch from minutes to years Typically worse for events right before the trauma

Retrograde Amnesia

Aphasia Definition: The loss of memory for words Expressive/Motor: Loss of ability to write/speak words Receptive/Sensory: Loss of memory for meaning of spoken, written words, or symbols Q6ew

Dissociative Amnesia A time period in the past is forgotten because it was traumatic or stressful

Fugue Amnesia A person forgets his/her identity Extremely rare The person may wake up and suddenly have no sense of who they are. He or she looks in the mirror and sees a stranger. In the wallet or purse the person may find identification, but the name and birth date on the driver's license seem meaningless.

Fugue Amnesia Video Clip

Dissociative Identity Disorder A person has “multiple personalities” They forget events that happen when another personality is present

PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) A reaction to a terrifying event where the person suffers from intrusive memories Caused by events of severe stress- war, murder, disasters. Most often seen in veterans

Specific Memory Failure

Memory Failure Overview Forgetting Absent- Mindedness TransienceBlocking Distortion BiasMisattributionSuggestibility Intrusion Persistence

Forgetting

Penny Exercise Answers 2. The words United States of America 5. The words One Cent 6. The date (year) of the mint 11. The right side of Lincoln’s face 14. The Lincoln Memorial 15. The words In God We Trust 16. The word Liberty 19. The words E Pluribus Unum

Penny Exercise

Encoding Failure Represents a failure to encode. The details of a penny are not that important to us…absent-mindedness Also, we think about what should be, not what is.

Capital City Exercise Name as many as you can without help. Write the first few letters if you only remember part of the word. I will give you a hint.

What type of memory failure does this exercise represent?

Interference Proactive Interference- When an older memory disrupts recall of a newer memory. Retroactive Interference- When a more recent memory disrupts recall of an older memory.

Repression vs. Retrieval Exercise 1. Precious Stone: First 2. Fish: Second 3. State: Third 4. Insect: Second 5. Type of Music: First 6. Alcoholic Beverage: Third 7. Color: Second 8. Military Title: Third 9. Article of Clothing: First 10. Sport: Second 11. Musical Instrument: First 12. Four-Footed Animal: Third 13. Occupation: First 14. Weapon: Third 15. Furniture: Second 16. Type of Fuel: Second 17. Disease: First 18: Vegetable: Third 19. Type of Vehicle: Second 20. Body Part: First

Memory Construction Have you ever had a strong, vivid memory and later learned you were wrong (or realized that what you remember could not have happened)? If so, write it down. Why do you think this occurred? We will share our answers…

Constructs Constructs A complex idea resulting from the combination of simpler ideas Not directly observable Something built systematically Constantly changing

Answer the following in groups: What if the simpler ideas/experiences from which we construct our memories are not all accurate? What does this mean for our identity?

War of the Ghosts We slightly alter images, memories, and ideas to fit into our own method of understanding/remembering Listen very carefully!

How/Why does our memory transform material? Accepted/conventional representations - That couldn’t have been a wolf…it was a dog Some features cannot be labeled until a recognized form is produced -If it doesn’t fit anything that we know/are used to, we have trouble recognizing or remembering it…chemistry anyone?

Bartlett’s Conclusions After first recall, the general form or outline stays the same Form and items become stereotyped and then don’t change Story is rationalized (westernized)- symbolization We simplify, omit, and transform images into things we recognize

Misinformation Effect Incorporating misleading information into a memory. Examples?

Eyewitness Testimony Identify the bomber on the roof… theeyewitnesstest.html

Child Testimony Imagine that you are a therapist or attorney who needs to interview a child about a possible case of abuse. Describe the procedure that you would use to ensure that the answers are as accurate as possible.

Is Repression Real? Our memories are anchored by context cues…If we dig deep enough, we can retrieve them.

Improving Memory Group Exercise Develop a study plan for a student using 4-5 of the memory techniques in your book. Imagine that the student has a psychology test approaching, and they want a detailed plan of methods, techniques, and examples that they can use to succeed on this exam.