Chapter12 Reconstructive Processes in Memory(II)
by Luan Feng
Outline & Q?
1. Implanting Memories
Q1: Techniques can lead people to recall events that did not
occur, so these types of memories are false memories. Do
you agree with it?
2. Recovered Memories
Q2: Does the term “Recovered Memories” have problem? If
so, please replace it by a better term and give your reason.
3. Memory Illusions
Q3:What’s the difference between memory illusions and
perceptual illusions?
1. Implanting Memories
Implanting Memories: a person “remembers”
something that did not happen, memories can be
created after an experimental manipulation. (Loftus,
1993b; Roediger&McDermott, 1995)
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thread
pin
eye
sewing
sharp
point
prick
thimble
haystack
thorn
hurt
injection
syringe
cloth
knitting
Experiment (by Rodiger and Mcdernott, 1995):
Memory for Words Not Presented
Purpose: To demonstrate recall of words that were not present
on the list.
Prodcedure&Result: Used lists of 12
words, all the words in list are related
to needle, which dose not appear in
the list. Many subjects would recall
needle as one of the words in list.
needle
Finding: People can be confident
that information they recall is
accurate despite the fact that the
information is wrong. (Eeingardt,
1995)
Another Implanting Memory Story
Famous Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget had a memory of
being kidnapped when he was an child and found out
later that his nanny had made up the story.
Apparently, Jean had heard stories, and was attributing
memory for these as memory for real events.
5
A variety of techniques can lead people to recall events
that did not occur. Unfortunately, these types of memories
are often referred to as false memories.
What
areterm
the because
processesit that
leadtrue
to the
This isisaimportant
misleading
implies
versus
dynamic
memory
continuously
changing,
the
false. In one
sense,system
all memories
are false,
becausenot
they
simpleminded
assertion that
a memory
true or false.
are constantly changing
and are
likely tois include
information from other sources other than original. To
divide memory up as either true or false masks the fact
that all memories are constructed and that the construction
process draws on many types of information
2. Recovered Memories
• Meaning: someone can fail to remember an event at one
time and then successfully remember the event at another
time.
• But: people can be easily led to recall events that did not
occur and believe that these memories are of real events.
• Recovered Memories implies that the memory is of a real
happened event.
• Discovered memories is neutral on whether the memory
is of a real event or not - a better term.
At the time of discovery, the person has the experience
of currently remembering the event but also believing
that he had not previously remembered the event.
The basic idea is that during the discovered memory
experience, the person thinks about the event in a
different way.
“forgot it all along” effect
(by Schooler et al., 1997)
• Phase 1, subjects remembered a particular item, subjects saw
homographic target words paired with disambiguating context words.
• Group A subjects might see “palmtree”. This biases subjects to think
of palm in the sense of a type of tree
rather than as a part of the hand .
The
subjects
Groupmight
A were
failing
to
• Group
B in
subjects
see
“palmremember
hadsubjects
remembered
hand”.that
Thisthey
biases
to think
the information
at an
earlier
timeof the
of palm in the
sense
of part
because
thinking
“palm”
in a
handofrather
thanabout
as a type
of tree.
different way at the time of discovery.
90%
60%
Judged palm As Recalled
• Phase 2, the words were embedded in two different sentences, such as,
“He swatted the fly with the palm of his hand.” and “The fortune teller
traced the lifeline on the palm of his hand.” subjects were asked to
judge whether they remembered the word palm in Phase 1.
3. Memory Illusions
• There are hundreds of studies on perceptual illusions,
but relatively few that deal with memory illusions.
• Perceptual Illusions
• Memory Illusions
Illusion:
both the objective
and is
subjective
•Perceptual
Which is
longer?
• Which
bigger?versions
can be continually experienced. With the memory illusion,
• Is this object possible? • Count the black dots plz.
only the subjective version remains.
Memory Illusions
(by McCloskey&Watkins, 1978)
•
When people see a
moving picture through a
earth ?
sphere
small slit, they remember
more of the object than
was
actually
seen. point to remember is that most
The
important
memory illusions will go unnoticed because, unlike
perceptual illusions, there is nothing objective to
compare with your internal representation.
car ?
wheel ?
When people see a still
picture, their memories
include additional information
that was not seen.
?
Summary
1. Implanting Memories
Recall events that did not occur.
2. Recovered Memories
Become aware of a memory that was not aware of earlier.
3. Memory Illusions
Internal representation
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THE END
THANKS
Q1/A
• Q1: Techniques can lead people to recall events that did not occur, so
these types of memories are false memories. Do you agree with it?
• A: This is a misleading term because it implies true versus false.
Almost all memories are a combination of episodic details and
information from generic memory or from other sources. Thus, at lest
part of your memory for everything you have experienced is a false
memory. To divide memory up as either true or false masks the fact
that all memories are constructed and that the construction process
draws on many types of information.
Q2/A
• Q2: Dose the term “recovered memories” have problem? If so, please
replace it by a better term and give your reason.
• A: The term “recovered memories” is similarly problematical, as it
implies such memories are genuine. A better term is “discovered
memories”, where the discovery could be of an event that occurred or
one that did not. For example, the phenomenon of discovered
memories is real, in such cases a person becomes aware of a memory
that he or she was not aware of earlier.
Q3/A
• Q3:What’s the difference between memory illusions and perceptual
illusions?
• A: With a perceptual illusion, both the objective and subjective
versions can be continually experienced. With a memory illusion,
usually only the subjective version remains. Thus, memory illusions,
though common, are very difficult to notice.