Memory in the Real World 1

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Memory in the Real World Overview
1. The everyday memory movement
2. Improving memory
3. Eye witness testimony
4. Recovered memories / FMS
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Background
If X is an important or interesting feature of
human behavior, then X has rarely been studied
by psychologists Neisser, 1978
Neisser argued that much of the last 100 years of
memory research was misguided and worthless.
Memory research should have ecological validity -
it should apply to naturally occurring behaviour
in the natural context of the real world.
Neissers comments influenced a new generation of
memory researchers. BUT also generated a
considerable counter attack from traditional
memory researchers...
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Background
Advantages and limitations of ecologically valid
research
Advantages
Disadvantages
1. Relevance to real world
1. Lack of experimental control
2. Practical predictions
2. Memory accuracy difficult to assess
3. Acknowledges Individual Differences
3. Lack of theoretical frameworks
4. Raises new questions
Proponents argued that everyday memory research
should be used as a testing ground for theories
and findings which have emerged from laboratory
experiments. However, there was / is
considerable debate concerning the utility of
everyday memory research.
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Improving Memory
Despite the claims of newspaper adverts, our
ability to improve our memory performance is
relatively modest. There are some techniques
which have been validated scientifically, but
their use in the real world is limited.
Pay attention - whilst we can clearly acquire
certain types of information subconsciously, it
is not likely to be of much use in an exam.
Organisation - Learning any set of facts is
easier if links can be established between them.
The more you know, the easier it gets.
The organisational strategies most often used
involve imagery and mnemonics
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Imagery and Mnemonics
Episodic memories often involve images.
Professional mnemonists use this to their
advantage, and may have naturally vivid imagery
(or even synaesthesia).
Unusual and interactive images are best for
associating two items (Bower, 1970).
Simonides - The Method of Loci Use imagery to
pair individual items with specific locations in
a room. Look around the room to recall.
Peg words - One is a bun, two is a shoe etc. Use
imagery to pair item one with a bun, item two
with a shoe etc.
Face-Name pairing - Choose prominent facial
feature, select imagable word(s) which are
similar to name. Create image pairing feature
with words. (Lorayne Lucas, 1975).
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Practice
Repetition influences the likelihood of an item
being transferred from the STS to the LTS. Is
practice most effective when concentrated or
distributed?
2 Effects Distribution of practice effect -
longer intervals best Retrieval practice effect -
successful retrieval increases likelihood of
subsequent retrieval
Best strategy test an item at longest delay
compatible with its correct recall - this delay
will increase with learning. SO- expanding
rehearsal Research suggests gradually increasing
interval is most efficient
These effects are robust, but not easy to
explain. Encoding variability may play a role
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Revising exam essays...
1. Look at past papers to identify common
reoccurring questions and themes
2. Identify the thematic structure of good
essays on these topics (revise together in groups)
3. Represent this structure using key topic
sentences and key experimental data within colour
circles
4. Revise little but often, with increasing gaps
between sessions 5. Take breaks near the end of a
topic (but not at the end)
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Eye witness testimony
Actively researched since turn of century. Much
recent work done by Loftus and colleagues.
The results of this research can have big
implications for legal systems, there are several
journals dedicated to issues concerning
psychology and the law.
Eye witness research has tended to involve
reasonably ecologically valid paradigms. Subjects
typically view pictures, or a video, or even an
enacted crime, and their memory for details of
the the event are subsequently assessed.
Two key issues are
1. What are the effects of misleading
information / questions?
2. What is the fate of the original memory?
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The effects of misleading information
A typical paradigm contains 3 phases.
Phase 1 Ss view an event
Phase 2 Ss are exposed to post-event
information. For 50 of subjects this information
is consistent with what they saw.
Phase 3 Ss memory for event assessed.
Loftus - 1975 Subjects viewed film of car
accident. In phase 2, subjects filled out a
questionnaire.
Group A How fast was the car going when it
passed the barn
Group B How fast was the car going when it
passed the stop sign
1 Week later, Ss asked Did you see a barn?
(There was no barn).
gt20 of Group A respond Yes lt 3 of Group B
respond Yes
Misleading post-event information can lead to
false memories
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The effects of misleading information
Slide A Slide B
In phase 1 Group A see slide A, Group B see slide
B.
Ss asked questions in phase 2 50 in each group
asked Did another car pass the Datsun when it
was at the Yield sign. 50 in each group asked
Did another car pass the Datsun when it was at
the Stop sign.
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The effects of misleading information
So 50 of subjects in each group received
inconsistent post-event information.
At subsequent phase 3 forced choice recognition
(pairs of slides) 75 of consistent Ss made
correct choice compared to 41 of inconsistent Ss
Loftus et al Researchers staged a robbery in
front of students
An actor pretends to steal something from a
stooge students bag and conceal it in his coat
Student cries Hes taken my tape recorder!
Witnesses subsequently phoned by insurance agent
50 of witnesses claimed they saw the tape
recorder, and most of those provided reasonably
detailed descriptions...
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Misleading questions
Subtle differences in the wording of questions
can lead to very different responses.
Loftus (1974) Ss watched film of crash.
Group A asked Did you see a broken
headlight? Group B asked Did you see the broken
headlight?
Group B gave significantly more positive answers
Loftus Palmer (1974) Ss watched film of
crash. Ss given questionnaire asking How fast
were the cars going when they XXXX each other?
1 Week Later, Ss asked Did you see any broken
Glass? Smash Hit Yes 16 7 No 34 43
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Resistance to distortion
Important - may help improve eye witness
reliability
1. Public commitment made before misleading
information is presented reduces its influence.
Does the act of commitment strengthen the
original memory trace (by rehearsal) or are
subjects unwilling to contradict themselves?
2. Blatant misinformation does not work, and also
leads to mistrust of more subtle attempts
3. Time - if misinformation is presented
immediately after viewing the event, around 50
of subjects are able to resist its influence.
This figure drops to 20 one week later.
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The fate of the original memory
Cohen (1988) considered several alternative
hypotheses
1. Vacant slot - the original event was not
remembered at all
Unlikely as 90 of subjects tested immediately
after the event who are not exposed to misleading
information make correct responses.
2. Coexistence - both the original version and
the false version exist together as competing
alternatives
The false version is more likely to be recalled
as it was presented more recently than the
original version (retrieval failure)
3. Demand Characteristics - (Zaragoza
McCloskey, 1989) Both original and false memories
exist. Subjects recall misleading information
because that is what the experiment
demands. Unlikely - effects apparent even when
Ss told info is false
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The fate of the original memory
4. Substitution - the misinformation replaces the
earlier information which is then irretrievably
lost. This interpretation was favoured by Loftus.
(integration in schema theory)
The substitution hypothesis predicts that the
original information should not be recoverable.
Some supporting evidence
Green, Flynn Loftus (1982) informed Ss after
phase 2 that the information was in fact
misleading.
Ss who had been warned made as many false
responses as subjects who had not been warned.
They appeared to be unable to disregard the
discredited false information and recover the
original memory.
Also financial incentives do not work. BUT
Memory for original information is available when
tested implicitly.
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Retrieval Failure?
Bekerian Bowers (1983) Original event
information not lost, just not retrieved due to
retrieval failure.
In Loftus expts, slides are presented for
recognition in random order. Therefore temporal
/ thematic overlap between encoding and retrieval
is not good - retrieval failure more likely
Repeated expt, but included a group who had
sequential recognition.
Lack of relevant retrieval context in random
condition leads to most recent memory being
retrieved (misleading info from questionnaire).
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Repression
Freud (1901) People repress unpleasant memories
Repression automatic exclusion from
consciousness - unlikely
Repression voluntary avoidance / refusal to
rehearse unpleasant material - plausible
Wilkinson and Cargill (1955) Recall of oedipal
vs non oedipal content of dreams Men perform
worse than women (men repress oedipal content
because it is anxiety provoking)
BUT McCullough (1976) Repeated expt, but Ss not
told it was about personality - no gender effect.
Levinger and Clark, (1961) Ss remember fewer
emotional associations than neutral ones
BUT Parkin et al (1982) Repeated the study,
added 1 week recall. At one week, emotional
associations better remembered.
Psychogenic amnesia
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False Memory Syndrome
Psychotherapists attribute recovered memories to
a specialised mechanism of repression which
keeps traumatic events outside consciousness.
These memories can be recovered through therapy
Experimental psychologists argue that false
memories can easily arise from normal
reconstructive memory processes, and that these
processes are manipulated during therapy
Four key issues for the experimental
psychologist
1. Can memories of abuse be forgotten? 2. If so,
can they later be remembered accurately? 3. Can
false memories for abuse occur? 4. Can false and
veridical memories be differentiated?
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FMS?
Can abuse be forgotten?
60 of victims of sexual abuse claim there are
periods of their life when they had no memory of
the abuse. (Briere et al, 1993)
But, unclear what was understood by no memory
also no corroborative evidence that abuse had
occurred.
Wiliams. 1994 12 of women who had been admitted
to ES for sexual abuse as children reported no
memory of any abuse.
But - some children as young as 10 months at time
of abuse. Also may have been unwilling to
disclose to researcher. Also, those worst abused
most likely to remember
Children exposed to other traumatic experiences
(e.g. murder of a parent) have intrusive memories
- not amnesia.
But - sexual abuse occurs repeatedly, abusive
nature of acts may be unclear to a child - maybe
a special repression occurs.
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FMS
Can memories be recovered? There are (some)
documented cases where recovered memories of
abuse have been corroborated. (e.g. Williams,
1995)
These probably reflect the same mechanisms
whereby appropriate retrieval cues can recover
other forgotten non traumatic memories.
Is recovery of memories of abuse a therapeutic
process?
Loftus (1997). Selected 30 sexual abuse cases at
random from local Victims Compensation Program
Memory for abuse had been recovered in therapy
for 26
All 30 in therapy for at least 3 years (half for
5 years)
Suicidal? Before therapy 3, After therapy, 20.
Hospitalised? Before therapy, 2. After therapy, 11
Self-harm? Before therapy, 1. After therapy, 8
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FMS
Can false memories be created? Many recovered
memories occur during the period of infantile
amnesia, and are therefore unlikely to be
veridical.
Many therapists believe that current
psychological problems may stem from forgotten
abuse in childhood. (No real evidence for this).
These beliefs may lead them to implicitly or
explicitly introduce the possibility that the
client was abused as a child.
If you identify with five or more symptoms,
yet have no memory of incest, you might try an
exercise. Accept the theory that you were abused,
live consciously with the idea for six months
Hypnosis often used. Memories recalled under
hypnosis are no longer admissable as legal
testimony.
Hypnosis increases the confidence with which the
memory is held, but reduces reliability of memory
being veridical
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FMS
Creating false memories in the laboratory Ceci,
1995. Children thought about real and fictitious
events for 10 weeks. 60 of the children
confused fictitious with real events by the end.
Professional psychologists unable to distinguish
true from false stories.
Loftus Pickrel, 1995 Young adults asked to try
and recall 4 childhood events reported by a
relative (1 event was false)
25 recalled the false event at two follow-up
interviews.
Hyman 1995 Repeatedly thinking about a
non-occurring childhood event increases the
belief that it actually happened
Repetition, use of imagery increase feelings of
familiarity which are then misinterpreted as past
experience.
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FMS
Deese Roediger McDermott (DRM) Paradigm Ss hear a
series of word lists. Each list composed of
associates of non-presented theme word e.g.
TIRED, BED, AWAKE, SLUMBER, SNORE, PILLOW, YAWN,
DROWSY (Associates of SLEEP)
In retrieval tests, Ss often falsely recognise or
recall non-presented words. (Explicit warnings do
not help)
Research suggests that manipulations which
increase the likelihood of item specific
information being encoded reduce the false
positives (e.g. showing words with pictures)
Changing recall procedure also reduces false
positivesKoustaal et al (1999) At recognition
subjects decide whether an item is Old and
identical, New but related, or New and
unrelated
With OLD vs NEW Ss respond on basis of
familiarity New cateogories cued retrieval of
more specific information
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FMS
Can real/false memories be differentiated?
Using DRM paradigm, Ss rate memory for false
positives as being very similar to true
recognition judgements on a number of dimensions.
But - contain fewer details about feelings and
reactions at the time of encoding.
Loftus, 1995 without corroboration, there is
little that can be done to help even the most
experienced evaluator to differentiate true
memories from ones that were suggestively
implanted