reconstructive memory

• unreliability of memory:

  Schemas influence memory processes at all stages of information processing including encoding and retrieval.

  • retrieval of information from LTM may depend on whether or not you are using particular schema- Anderson andPichert (1978) limitations to reliability of memory"
  • when context changes and someithing in the new context triggers those memories we are able to recall them.
  • memory can become distorted.
• The theory of reconstructive memory and EYEwitness testimony:

  • instead of memory being the passive retrieval of information from LTM- it is an active process that involves the reconstruction of information- the theory of reconstructive memory
  • reconstruction- you construct the memory again
• LOFTUS AND PALMER 1974!!

  • observing the extent to which memories can be altered by irrelevant external influences
  • this is a study on eyewitness testimony- important to note that the study has 2 parts, experiment 1, and experiment 2 - there were 2 competing hypotheses!!
• EXPERIMENT 1

  • 45 studnets- split into 5 groups
  • shown film recordings of traffic accidents, each participant shown 7 films.
  • order in which the films were shown is different for each particpant
  • after the film, participants were given a questionnaire asking them to answer a series of questions about the accident- most of the questions on the questionnaire were just meant as distracters, but there was one critical question that asked about the speed of the vehicles involved in the collision
• EXPERIMENT 1- part 2

  • the question was diff among the 5 groups of partiapants
  • one gap was asker about how fast were the cars going when they hit each other?
  • other groups the word "hit " was change for smashed/collided/bumped/contacted
  • results showed that the mean speed estimates varied significantly for the 5 groups:
  • smashed= 40.5, collided=39.3, bumped = 38.1, hit=34.0, contacted = 31.8 ;; mean speed estimate in mph findings.
• EXPERIMENT 1- part 3

  • the accuracy of estimates here doesn't matter, numerous studies had previously shown that people aren't very good at judging how fast a vehicle is travelling- the point here is that all participants watched the same films yet they gave significantly diff mean speed estimates
• EXPERIMENT 1 - part 4

  THE findings can be interpreted in 2 possible ways:

  • response bias: for example- a subject might be uncertain whether to say 30mph or 40mph, and a verb of a higher intensity such as smashed; biases the response to a higher estimate. memory of the event in this case doesn't change.
  • memory change: the question causes a change in the subject memory representation of the accident. for example, the verb "smashed" actually alters the memory so that the object remembers the accident as having been more severe than it actually was.
• role of leading questions in influencing the memories of eyewitnesses

  Discuss research methods used in the cognitive approach.

  Discuss the reliability of one cognitive process.
• Post-event information and wording of questions can manipulate people's memory
• Loftus demonstrated that false memories can be planted in participants, leading them to claim they experienced events that never happened
• Research by Loftus has highlighted issues with eyewitness testimony, where leading questions can result in false evidence being given in court
• Leading questions are questions that suggest to a witness which answer is desired, influencing their response
• Some questions are more likely to influence estimates than others in eyewitness testimony
• hypothesis: peoples memory for details of a complex event could be distorted if they were asked to estimate how fast the car was going.
• the aim of the research was to investigate whether the use of leading questions would affect the estimation of speed.
• the researchers predicted that using the word smashed would result in a higher estimation of speed than using the word hit.

  • the IV:intensity of the verb used in the critical question
  • DV: estimation of the speed
  • 45 students in 5 groups of 9 students each
  • 7 traffic accident films were shown and length of films ranged from 5 to 30 seconds. these films were then from drivers education films. the study was an Independent samples design. each participant watched all 7 films.
• • when participants had watched a film they were asked to give an account of the accident and they answered a questionnaire with iff questions on the accident with one question being the critical question where they were asked the estimate speed of the cars involved in the accident. the participants were asked to estimate the speed of the cars.
• findings:

  about how fast were the cars going when they hit each other?

  smashed- 40.8

  collided=39.3

  bumped=38.1

  hit=34.0

  contacted=31.8

  mean speed estimate.

  highest 40.8mph, lowest 31.8mph

  the results were significant at p is less than equal to 0.005
• the results show that the critical word in the question consistently affected the participants answers to the question. the researchers argued that it may be that at diff speed estimates are the result of response bias- ie the participants are uncertain about the exact t speed and hence a verb like smashed biases their response towards a higher estimate it may also be that the way the question is formed results in a change in the participants mental representation of the accident.
• the distortion of memory is based on reconstruction so that it is not the actual details of the accident that are rmenebred but rather what is in line with a cog schema of a severe accident. It seems that the participants memory of an accident could be changed by suggestive questions.
• EVALUATION

  • conducted in a lab, participants were studnets
  • lab experiments problematic= don't reflect how people remember inline, low ecological validity-films showing the experiment were made for teaching purposes and hence participants did texperience the same kind of emotion that they would have experienced if it had been a real accdient
• EVALUATION

  • strength: confounding variables can be controlled, so that the effect of the iV is measured- they can rightfully claim that they had established a cause-effect relationship between iV (intensity of the critical word) and DV (estimation of the speed)
  • the fact that the experiments used students as partipcants has been critiqued because it can not be representative of general popultion
  • they were most likely young and inexperienced drivers so this mightve influence d their ability to estimate the speed of the cars- most people wold have a problem with estimating speed of car
• Reconstructive memory theory postulates that the process of remembering past events is influenced by other internal cognitive processes and external factors, such as perception, imagination, attitudes, beliefs and semantic memory (i.e. our knowledge).

  As a theory of memory, it states that memories consist not only of what we encode and store, but is affected by prior knowledge in the form of schemas[1]. In other words, memories are not static, and each time we retrieve them, they can be subtly altered or modified.
• Aim: To test whether external factors (in this case, the language used in eyewitness testimony) can alter memory.

  Participants: 45 American students from the University of Washington (divided into 5 groups with 9 participants each)

  Type of research method: Laboratory experiment

  Type of sampling: Opportunity sampling

  Type of experimental design: Independent measures design (each participant was exposed to only one of the five conditions)
• Memories are based on two types of information:

  • Information acquired during the perception of the event
  • Information acquired post the event from an external source
• Participants exposed to the question containing the critical verb "smashed" treated this verb as post-event information, implying that the accident was severe
• This post-event information became integrated into their memory of the original event
• Participants were more inclined to believe they had witnessed broken glass while viewing the video clip, as broken glass is typically associated with a severe accident
• The usage of a high-intensity verb, such as "smashed," in the leading question triggers a pre-existing schema associated with severe car accidents
• Participants reconstruct their memories through the lens of this activated schema
• This phenomenon indicates that the use of a higher-intensity verb results in elevated speed estimates
• The use of a higher-intensity verb increases the likelihood of recollecting an event that did not genuinely happen
• Based on the findings, it is argued that the preferred explanation for the results in experiment 1 is an actual alteration in memory rather than just a response bias
• The choice of wording in questions can have a substantive impact on the reconstruction of memories
• The choice of wording influences both the perceived intensity of an event and the probability of falsely recalling specific details