PSYC*2650 Chapter 8: Remembering Complex Events

Question 1

How does the memory of someone with highly superior autobiographical memory differ from someone with “normal” memory?

Answer 1

Individuals with HSAM have virtually perfect memories for their lives, but have no advantage in remembering other content or performing other mental tasks

Question 2

What does it mean for memory storage to be modality-specific?

Answer 2

What is seen is stored in brain areas devoted to visual processing, what is heard is devoted to areas involved with auditory processing, etc

Question 3

What are the two main types of memory errors?

Answer 3

• Errors of omission
• Errors of commission

Question 4

T or F: Memory is an active process of inference and reconstruction.

Answer 4

True

Question 5

What is the difference between errors of omission and errors of commission?

Answer 5

• Omission: Caused by a lack of availability of information
• Commission: Caused by the false remembering

Question 6

What are two ways in which errors of omission can occur?

Answer 6

• Poor encoding
• Forgetting

Question 7

What are intrusion errors?

Answer 7

A memory error in which a person recalls elements that were not part of the original episode

Question 8

What is the DRM paradigm?

Answer 8

A commonly used experimental design for eliciting and studying memory errors

Question 9

What is the procedure for the DRM paradigm?

Answer 9

• Participants are shown or read a list of words related to a single theme
• The word that names the theme isn’t included, but participants are very likely to state that it was

Question 10

When warned about the error associated with the DRM paradigm, are participants less likely to make the mistake?

Answer 10

No

Question 11

What is a schema?

Answer 11

A type of knowledge describing what is typical or frequent in a particular situation

Question 12

Can schemas promote errors in perception and memory?

Answer 12

Yes

Question 13

T or F: Schemas are useful when trying to recall an event.

Answer 13

True

Question 14

T or F: Memory connections don’t undermine accuracy.

Answer 14

False

Question 15

What are the two scenarios in which eyewitness errors occur?

Answer 15

• When the wrong person is identified as the culprit
• When an individual misreports how events unfolded

Question 16

What is the misinformation effect?

Answer 16

An effect in which reports of an earlier event are influenced by misinformation received after the event

Question 17

Can the misinformation effect be used to create false memories?

Answer 17

Yes

Question 18

Is it easier to plant plausible false memories or implausible false memories?

Answer 18

Plausible

Question 19

T or F: Errors are less likely when the post-event information supplements what was remembered rather than contradicting it.

Answer 19

False. They are more likely.

Question 20

Is it easier to add false information to a memory or replace it?

Answer 20

It’s easier to add to it

Question 21

Under what conditions are false memories more easily planted?

Answer 21

If the participant is told to imagine the suggested event rather than just hear about it

Question 22

What can be used as an indicator of whether a memory is trustworthy?

Answer 22

The degree of certainly a person has in that memory

Question 23

What might be the reason for which a memory expressed with total certainty turns out to be wrong?

Answer 23

Confidence can be artificially inflated

Question 24

Are memory errors avoidable?

Answer 24

No

Question 25

What are the two reasons for "forgetting"?

Answer 25

- Failure to pay attention during acquisition - Genuinely forgetting the information

Question 26

What is the retention interval?

Answer 26

The amount of time that passes between initial learning and the retrieval of that material

Question 27

As the retention interval increases, what happens to the likelihood of forgetting?

Answer 27

It increases

Question 28

What are three potential explanations for the pattern displayed by an increasing retention interval?

Answer 28

- Decay theory of forgetting - Interference theory - Retrieval failure

Question 29

What is the decay theory of forgetting?

Answer 29

The hypothesis that with the passage of time, memories may fade or erode

Question 30

What is the logic behind the decay theory of forgetting?

Answer 30

- Brain cells relevant to a specific idea may die overtime - When connections among memories aren't constantly refreshed, they gradually weaken

Question 31

What is the interference theory?

Answer 31

The hypothesis that materials are lost from memory because of interferences from other materials in memory

Question 32

What is the difference between proactive and retroactive interference?

Answer 32

- Proactive: Interference cause by materials learned prior to the actual learning episode - Retroactive: Interference caused by materials learned after the actual learning episode

Question 33

What is retrieval failure?

Answer 33

The hypothesis that "forgotten memories" are still in LTM, but the person is unable to locate them while trying to retrieve it

Question 34

T or F: The greater the retention interval, the greater the likelihood that a person's perspective has changed, therefore there's a lower chance of retrieval failure

Answer 34

False. The greater the retention interval, the greater the likelihood that a person's perspective has changed, therefore there's a GREATER chance of retrieval failure.

Question 35

What is the tip of tongue phenomenon?

Answer 35

An effect in which people are unable to remember a particular word, even though they are certain that it is in their vocabulary

Question 36

Can forgetting be undone with hypnosis?

Answer 36

No

Question 37

Why might it appear that forgetting can be undone with hypnosis?

Answer 37

Participants give more detailed reports to comply with the hypnotist's instructions, not because they actually remember more

Question 38

Which procedure is successful at producing more complete recollection without compromising accuracy?

Answer 38

Cognitive interviews

Question 39

What are two reasons why cognitive interviews might be so successful?

Answer 39

- They involve an effort toward context reinstatement - They offer various retrieval cues in hopes of finding one that triggers the target memory

Question 40

What is autobiographical memory?

Answer 40

The aspect of memory that records the episodes and events in a person's life

Question 41

Which is better remembered, information that is self-relevant or information that is not self-relevant?

Answer 41

Information that is self-relevant

Question 42

What is the pattern known as the reminiscence bump?

Answer 42

Autobiographical memory is most clear and detailed about events that occurred during late adolescent and early adulthood

Question 43

Do autobiographical memories involve both genuine recall and schema-based reconstruction?

Answer 43

Yes

Question 44

T or F: Schematic knowledge a person holds about themselves can create a bias in how they remember the past.

Answer 44

True

Question 45

What happens if memory consolidation is interrupted?

Answer 45

No memory will be established and later recall will be impossible

Question 46

T or F: Sleep has no impact on memory consolidation.

Answer 46

False. Adequate sleep can help promote memory consolidation.

Question 47

T or F: Emotion enhances memory consolidation

Answer 47

True

Question 48

How does emotion influence what is remembered about an event?

Answer 48

Emotion narrows attention so the focus is on specific aspects of the scene and those aspects are what is likely to be remembered

Question 49

How does rehearsal differ for emotion events vs non-emotional events?

Answer 49

Due to their nature, emotional events enable more active memory rehearsal

Question 50

What are flashbulb memories?

Answer 50

A memory of extraordinary clarity, typically for a highly emotional event, that is retained over many years

Question 51

Emotional events trigger a response in the ___________, which increases activity in the ___________ (crucial for establishing memories).

Answer 51

Amygdala, hippocampus

Question 52

T or F: Due to their remarkable vividness, flashbulb memories are rarely inaccurate.

Answer 52

False

Question 53

What is co-witness contamination?

Answer 53

When information from someone else about an event (true or false) is absorbed into another's memory

Question 54

How does memory consolidation for traumatic events differ?

Answer 54

Consolidation is promoted by the conditions that accompany bodily arousal, including the extreme arousal typically present during a traumatic event

Question 55

What factors involved in a trauma can offset the memory-promoting effects of arousal?

Answer 55

Sleep deprivation, head injuries, substance abuse, stress

Question 56

T or F: Stress often causes a person to remember the broad outline of what happened during a traumatic event, but not the details

Answer 56

True

Question 57

What are three alternate theories to memory repression/recovered memories?

Answer 57

- Memories that appeared to be lost from the outside may simply be the result of a person refusing to discuss them - The pattern of "recovering" a memory can potentially be explained by retrieval failure before a relevant cue is presented - "Recovered" memories may be caused by memory errors emerging when thinking about the past