1. I CAN Describe and Distinguish the seven sins Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

2. Most of our memory problems arise from memory’s “Seven Sins” – which are really by-products of otherwise adaptive features of human memory Why Does Memory Sometimes Fail Us?

3. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Memory Failure

4. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Transience Absent- Mindedness Blocking MisattributionSuggestibility BiasPersistence Memory’s “Seven Sins”

5. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Transience/Decay Theory Long term memories gradually weaken over time Biologically, we lose dendrites when LTM is unrehearsed

6. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Ebbinghaus’s Forgetting Curve Recall decreases rapidly, then reaches a plateau, after which little more is forgotten Percent retained 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Days 51015202530

7. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Absent-Mindedness Forgetting caused by lapses in attention

8. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Blocking Forgetting that occurs when an item in memory cannot be accessed or retrieved Caused by interference –Proactive interference –Retroactive interference –Serial position effect

9. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Proactive Interference: Earlier learning interferes with memory for later information Old memories move ‘forward’ in time to block your attempt at new learning Example: When you drive a new car, you still reach for where the radio was in your old car Blocking (PORN)

10. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Retroactive Interference: New information interferes with memory for information learned earlier New material reaches back into your memory to block old material Example: After driving your Mom’s car that has no clutch, you forget to use the clutch when your drive you own car Blocking (PORN)

11. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Serial Position Effect: Interference related to the sequence in which information is presented …usually items in the middle of a sequence are remembered less than lose first (primacy effect) or last (recency effect) Blocking

12. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Serial Position Effect Serial Position of Item 1 5 10 15 Probability of Recall 1.00.50.00 Primacy Effect Recency Effect Theoretically, the primacy effect represents recall from long-term memory and the recency effect represents recall from short-term memory.

13. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Next-in-line-Effect: When you are so anxious about being next that you cannot remember what the person just before you in line says, but you can recall what other people around you say. Not in the textbook/notes

14. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Misattribution Memory fault that occurs when memories are retrieved, but they are associated with the wrong time, place, or person The older the memory, the more likely it is to suffer misattribution.

15. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Suggestibility When external cues distort or create memories Suggestibility refers to false memories that you develop because someone or something gives you some key information at the same time that you’re trying to retrieve a memory.

16. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Suggestibility Imagine that you saw someone fleeing from a car as its antitheft alarm was blaring. You didn’t get a good look at the thief, but another person on the street insisted that it was a man wearing a green plaid jacket. Later, when the police show you photos of possible suspects, you’re confused until you see a man dressed in green plaid coat. Then you point to him.

17. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Misinformation Effect Loftus and Palmer found in studies that after seeing two cars collide, responses depended heavily upon how the questions were worded….using the word ‘smash’ instead of ‘hit’

18. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Eyewitnesses reconstruct their memories when questioned about the event. Misinformation Effects Depiction of the actual accident. Group A: How fast were the cars going when they hit each other? Group B: How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other? A week later they were asked: Was there any broken glass? Group B (smashed into) reported more broken glass than Group A (hit).

19. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Fabricated Memories Repressed or Constructed? Some adults actually do forget childhood episodes of abuse. False Memory Syndrome A condition in which a person’s identity and relationships center around a false but strongly believed memory of a traumatic experience, which is sometimes induced by well-meaning therapists.

20. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Repressed Memories… The Return of Freud The scientific concept of repression is extremely shaky. No evidence that it can happen. In fact, the opposite seems to be true (PTSD) It has been shown that very vivid memory can be implanted into the minds of both adults and children. The subjects can´t discriminate real vs. implanted memories. The process of recovery (recovery therapy) is very similar to the process used for artificial implantation

21. Reconstructed Memories Time, misattribution, suggestibility can lead to false -or- RECONSTRUCTED memories

22. Bias Feelings, beliefs, values, personality characteristics, etc can color a memory. –EX a particularly happy person will have happily colored memories Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

23. Persistence This failure of the memory system involves the unwanted recall of information that is disturbing This “bad memory” won’t leave you alone –Associated with OCD, Depression, Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, Phobias, and Suicide Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

24. CAN I? Describe and Distinguish the seven sins Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

25. Transience Absent- Mindedness Blocking MisattributionSuggestibility BiasPersistence CAN I? Describe and Distinguish the seven sins