What is the common myth about memory?
That memory works like a video camera—objective, detailed, and permanent.
What did Simons & Chabris (2011) find about public beliefs on memory?
Many people believe human memory works like recording technology.
What did the Simons & Levin (1998) study show?
People often fail to notice major changes during interactions; ~50% missed a person swap.
What are flashbulb events?
Highly emotional, significant events such as 9/11 or personal loss that feel unforgettable.
Do flashbulb memories remain accurate?
No. Confidence stays high but details degrade and distort over time.
What did Neisser & Harsch (1992) find about Challenger memories?
Many recollections were wrong; 25% were wrong about every detail three years later.
What does the conclusion ‘Memory is not a video camera’ mean?
Memory can feel vivid and accurate but often contains errors.
What is memory implantation?
Inducing false memories through suggestion, such as adding false childhood events.
What did Hyman et al. (1995) show about false memories?
False memories appear and strengthen over repeated interviews.
How did WMD reports influence public memory?
Media suggestion caused many to form false memories about discovering WMDs in Iraq.
What does ‘Memory can be strong and wrong’ mean?
Memories may feel convincing yet be factually inaccurate.
What was the key insight from John Dean’s Watergate testimony?
He was substantively correct but inaccurate in many specific details.
Why do traumatic memories still distort over time?
Even strong, emotional memories degrade or shift due to reconstruction processes.
What is change blindness?
Failure to notice major changes in a visual scene.
What is confabulation?
Unintentional fabrication of details to fill memory gaps.
What is eidetic imagery?
A vivid, afterimage-like mental picture that is vivid but not always accurate.
Is eidetic imagery the same as photographic memory?
No. It is vivid but still prone to errors.
What did Stromeyer’s 1970 case claim?
A woman with photographic memory, but it lacked replication and is considered unreliable.
Do any verified cases of photographic memory exist?
No verified cases exist.
What can natural prodigious memory show?
Exceptional memory in specific domains, not photographic recall.
How do chess experts recall positions?
Through pattern recognition and chunking, not photographic memory.
What is chunking?
Grouping items into meaningful units to improve memory capacity.
What happens when chess positions are random?
Experts perform similarly to novices because structure is missing.
What is STM capacity according to Miller?
7 ± 2 chunks.
