PSYC 213 Chapter Notes - Chapter 6: Autobiographical Memory, Retrograde Amnesia, Visual Cortex

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Chapter 6: Memory Traces & Schemas
Memory
Memories are not always accurate representation of what happened
o Schemas in long-term memory help fill in blanks of missing information
o Schemas = show that memory reconstructive
Mystic writing pad model: memory model based on toy writing tablet that retains fragments of
old messages even after they have been "erased"
o Fragment accumulate over time, and start to overlap --becomes increasingly hard to read
Overlay is like perception of an event, and memory traces are similar to what remains on wax
tablet
o Accumulate over time; hard to read so much reconstruct from available evidence
Trace Theory
Reappearance hypothesis: same memory can reappear, unchanged, again & again
o Rejected by Neisser
Now consensus that all memories are subject to change
Flashbulb Memories
Some psychologists argued that particular type of memory is permanent
o Investigated memories of assassinations of prominent figures
Flashbulb memories: vivid, detailed memory of significant events
o Highly detailed memory traces (include context)
o Model by Brown & Kulik
Now Print! Theory: especially significant experiences are immediately photocopied &
preserved in long-term memory
o Resistant to change
o Livingston
Five stages for flashbulb memories:
1. Test the stimulus for surprisingness
More surprising = pay more attention to it
If not surprising enough, inattention
2. Test for consequentiality
If fail, then forgotten
3. Formation of flashbulb memory
Varies in vividness & completeness depending on how surprising & consequential
event was
Varies in elaboration
4. Rehearsal where think about memory & develop verbal accounts of it
Vary in frequency
Overt & covert
5. Flashbulb accounts; tell & retell accounts to other people
Vary in elaboration
Investigation of Flashbulb Hypothesis
Asked people questions following Challenger space shuttle explosion
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o 3 days after incident and then 9 months later
o Some details loss over time, some inconsistencies
Similar to what happens for normal memories
o Some argue that there is no special mechanism for "flashbulb memories"
o Only easier to recall / more vivid because have thought about them and rehearsed them
more
i.e. rehearsal in discussions with others, media, etc.
Destruction World Trade Center 2001
o Student filled in questionnaire about event, but also about recent ordinary event
o Re-tested the participants at different intervals (i.e. 1 week, 6 weeks or 32 weeks later)
o Recall given consistency & inconsistency scores
Over time, both flashbulb & ordinary memory showed decrease in consistency
o But not more accurate for flashbulb memory than ordinary even though associated with
more emotion
o People believed that their flashbulb memories were more accurate
o Flashbulb event enhances vividness & confidence but not more reliable
Are Memory Traces Permanent?
Consolidation theory: memory traces of event not fully formed immediately after event, but take
some time to consolidate
o Classic theory
Process of consolidation can be disrupted by events following event
o Retroactive interference: decline in recall of even as result of a later event
o Resting after learning leads to better consolidation than mental word
o Limited resource pool
Once consolidation process completed, memory trace does not become fixed/permanent
o When trace re-activated, subject to change
Recalling event = bring back to working memory, where contacts other experiences (new
context)
o Memory trace can be modified
Revised memory trace then undergoes reconsolidation in the hippocampus
o Process by which memory trace is revised & reconsolidated
Can do this cycle over and over
Nader: memory is dynamic process, relying on reconstruction
Schema-Based Theories of Memory; Barlett
Schemas help us organize and categorize information
o Introduced by Barlett
o Active mass of organized past reactions that provides setting to guide our behavior /
memory
o Can be adjusted to fit circumstances
Remembering is imaginative reconstruction
Method of repeated production: participant given multiple opportunities to recall a story over
time
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o Given a story to read, and then attempts to reproduce it 15 minutes later, and then after
longer time intervals
Method of serial reproduction: Participant A reads a story, and then writes down what he/she
call recall of it -- then A's version given to participant B, who reads it and then tries to
reproduce it -- B's version given to participant C and so on
o Rationalization: attempt to make a memory as coherent & sensible as possible
Causes omissions, as material that does not fit is dropped out of narrative
Modify material over time to more familiar patterns
Most schema theories discuss memory in four processes
o Selection: select info both as we receive & recall it; schema selects information
consistent with current interest
o Abstraction: tend to remember the gist of an experience, not the specifics
o Interpretation: interpret info by making inferences, and remembering inferences as part
of original information
o Integration: abstract meaning of an event and then put that meaning together with the
rest of our knowledge to form a consistent whole
Schema selects info consistent with interests at that time
o Convert information into more abstract form (extract meaning), interpret it and integrate it
such that it is consistent with the schema
Can have 5th process: reconstruction --recall blends general knowledge & individual
experiences to reconstruct the past
If memory was rigid and exact, it would not be useful
o Schemas are more abstract, giving meaning to memory traces
o Schemas & memory traces can work together
Eyewitness Testimony
Study investigation effect of how question phrased on witness testimony
o Shown video of traffic accident and asked to estimated the car's speed
o If asked how fast were the cars going when they hit each other?, would answer lower
speed than if asked … when smashed into each other
o Car speed is function of intensity of verb in question
When asked about incident later, more likely to report seeing broken glass if question initially
asked used work smashed than contacted or other
o External info supplied after event merges with information of event itself over time;
unable to differentiate
Misinformation effect: Misleading information from after event becomes integrated with
memory of original event
False Memory
May fail to discriminate between memories of real & imagined events
Vivid memories may also give illusion that actually happened
o Can fail to identify source of memory
Participants shown picture of 4 people in an office, containing variety of objects
o Then read text describing the office, which contained misleading descriptions
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Document Summary

Trace theory: reappearance hypothesis: same memory can reappear, unchanged, again & again, rejected by neisser, now consensus that all memories are subject to change. Flashbulb memories: some psychologists argued that particular type of memory is permanent. Investigated memories of assassinations of prominent figures: flashbulb memories: vivid, detailed memory of significant events, highly detailed memory traces (include context, model by brown & kulik, now print! Theory: especially significant experiences are immediately photocopied & preserved in long-term memory: resistant to change, livingston, five stages for flashbulb memories, test the stimulus for surprisingness, more surprising = pay more attention to it. If not surprising enough, inattention: test for consequentiality. Schema-based theories of memory; barlett: schemas help us organize and categorize information. Interpretation: interpret info by making inferences, and remembering inferences as part of original information. If memory was rigid and exact, it would not be useful: schemas are more abstract, giving meaning to memory traces, schemas & memory traces can work together.

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