Reconstructive Memory

Cards (82)

  • What is the premise of Bartlett's reconstructive memory?
    Memory is an active reconstruction based off our schemas, not an accurate account but a reconstruction of what has occured.
  • What is a schema?
    a mental representation of an objects, person or event that influences how we perceive and remember experiences
  • Concepts of reconstructive memory
    - Past and current experiences and perceptions are used to understand new information
    - We change our memories to fit in with what we already know
    - We tend to see and interpret and recall what we see according to what we expect.
  • Familiarisation
    When unfamiliar details are changed to align with our own schema
  • Cognitive interview
    A police interview designed to ensure a witness to a crime does not actively reconstruct their memory
  • Rationalisation
    When we add details into our recall to give a reason for something that may not have originally fitted with a schema
  • Omissions
    Leave out unfamiliar, unpleasant or irrelevant details when remembering something. Our scheme simplifies the information for us.
  • Confabulation
    When we cannot remember the details of a memory out schemas fill it in for us based on out familiar previous concepts and experiences.
  • Accommodation
    When information is changed to fit you schemas
  • Supporting evidence for Reconstructive memory
    - Bartlett's Native American ghost story recall. OTOH (experimenter bias)
    - Brewer and Treyens (1981)
  • What was Bartlett's 1932 Ghost Story experiment?
    Ptps where given a Native American ghost story and tasked with recalling it seconds, days, weeks then months later and found that ptps changed details to make the story more familiar.
  • Conflicting evidence
    - Brewer and Treyens
  • Brewer and Treyens (1981)
    Asked ptps to wait in an office style room, in the room were various objects, some consistent with and office environment and some not.
    When asked to recall the objects the consistent items were remembered better than the inconsistent (SUPPORT) but many remembered the skull reducing the credibility (CONFLICT)
  • Other theories for explaining memory
    - WMM; breaks down how we process our STM, useful applications for tailored treatment for memory loss victims.
    - MSM; how we learn memory, basic/reductionist.
  • Usefulness of Reconstructive memory
    Eyewitness testimonials - no longer reliable as our schema's familiarise the wrong information to aline with our stereotypes/ preconceptions. ROBERT COTTON. Useful in the justice system.
  • Robert Cotton
    Was identified as a rapist by the victim, she was told so many times he was her rapist she began to see him as her rapist in her memories. He was exonerated later after being falsely imprisoned.
  • Testability of Bartlett's reconstructive memory theory?
    Self report; lacks internal validity, people can lie. Not empirical, we cannot see our memories physically. Not reliable or credible. Vulnerable to demand characteristics. OTOH High in ecological validity.
  • Describe Bartlett's theory of Reconstructive memory as an explanation for memory.
    Bartlett's theory explains that memory is not remembered accurately but instead is an "active reconstruction" of what has happened based off of our schemas, mental preconceptions of a person, object, event etc. Bartlett explains that how we interpret our memories and experiences are affected by these schemas. Our schemas affect our memories in many ways, through familiarisation, when we change unfamiliar details to align with our schemas, rationalisation, where we add in additional details to our recalled memories in order to give a reason to something that may not have logically fitted with our schema's earlier, omission, leaving out unfamiliar, unpleasant, irrelevant details when remembering something, confabulation, where our schemas "fill in the blanks" based on our previous experiences/understandings or accommodation, where we change information to fit our schemas. Because of Bartlett's research police interviews are now designed to ensure a witness to a crime does not actively reconstruct their memory, as this could lead to wrongful convictions, these are called cognitive interviews.
  • Explain one strength and one weakness of reconstructive memory as a theory of memory.
    - One strength of reconstructive memory is its application in the justice system regarding the stance and validity of eyewitness testimonials. This is a strength because it shows that recon. is a useful explanation of memory and a credible one, taken into consideration by such important institution.
    - One weakness of reconstructive memory is that it has only been tested through self report research methods, this is a weakness to recon. as self report studies are vulnerable to demand characteristics and lack internal validity, damaging the credibility of recon and it's reliability as an explanation for memory.See an expert-written answer!We have an expert-written solution to this problem!
  • The Multi-Store Model of Memory is also called the “Three Stage” memory model because it is a linear
  • The Multi-Store Model explains memory as learned behavior influenced by classical conditioning.
    False
  • The Multi-Store Model was developed during the Cognitive Revolution in Psychology.
  • Stages of memory in the Multi-Store Model
    1️⃣ Sensory Memory
    2️⃣ Short-Term Memory (STM)
    3️⃣ Long-Term Memory (LTM)
  • Information in Sensory Memory lasts for less than a second.
  • Information in STM lasts up to 20 seconds.
  • LTM has an unlimited duration.
  • Match the encoding type with its description:
    Acoustic encoding ↔️ Encoding by sound
    Semantic encoding ↔️ Encoding by meaning
  • Atkinson and Shiffrin found that STM primarily uses acoustic encoding.
  • Tulving developed the structure of LTM with Episodic and Semantic Memory.
  • The Brown-Peterson Technique uses an interference task to block rehearsal.
  • Participants in the Brown-Peterson Technique forget most trigrams after 18 seconds.
  • What is the magic number for STM capacity according to Miller?
    7 plus or minus 2
  • Miller found that STM can hold more information by grouping it into chunks.
  • The primacy effect occurs because words are well-rehearsed and encoded in LTM.
  • The recency effect occurs because words are still in the rehearsal loop.
  • Elaborative rehearsal involves semantic encoding by thinking about the meaning of information.
  • What type of rehearsal is similar to rote learning?
    Maintenance rehearsal
  • Gary Wells (1996) reported the case of Ed Honacker, who was falsely accused by eyewitness testimony.
  • Inattention can prevent key details from reaching STM.
  • Clive Wearing's brain damage affected his ability to rehearse information into LTM.