PSYC 213 Chapter Notes - Chapter 6: Autobiographical Memory, Retrograde Amnesia, Visual Cortex
28 May 2018
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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
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
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
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.
