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 Memory 11. 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 External events Sensory memory Short- term memory Long- term memory Attention Encoding failure leads to 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 Time in days since learning list Percentage of list retained when relearning

Forgetting Curve >  The forgetting curve for Spanish learned in school Retention drops, then levels off ½ 14½ 25 35½ 49½ Time in years after completion of Spanish course 100% Percentage of original vocabulary retained

Retrieval Failure  Forgetting can result from failure to retrieve information from long-term memory External events Attention Encoding Retrieval failure leads to forgetting Retrieval Sensory memory Short-term memory Long-term memory

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 interfering events, recall is better After sleep After remaining awake Hours elapsed after learning syllables 90% Percentage of 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 Construction Elizabeth Loftus- Memory Researcher  Eyewitnesses reconstruct memories when questioned Depiction of actual accident Leading question: “About how fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?” (v. control group - hit each other) Memory construction

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 Construction Source 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 recalling Roediger & 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