Forgetting and Memory
Construction
Forgetting
Inability to retrieve information, due to poor
encoding, storage or retrieval.
WHY DO I HAVE THIS
STRING ON MY
FINGER?!?!
I can’t remember, but
it must be something
important…
Encoding Failure
We cannot remember what we did not
encode…if we aren’t paying attention or
entering the information into our long-term
memory in the first place, we will not be able
to retrieve it later…because it doesn’t exist!
Memory is not magic!
Storage Decay
Poor durability of stored memories leads to their
decay…yet not deletion!
● Ebbinghaus showed this with his forgetting curve…initial
large drop in retention of info, but it evens out over time
● believe this to be due
to the gradual fading
of the memory trace
in the brain…the
connections aren’t
as strong and
efficient as they
once were
Retaining Spanish
Bahrick (1984) showed a pattern similar to that of
Ebbinghaus with forgetting and retention of
Spanish vocabulary over 50 years.
Retrieval Failure
Although the information is retained in the
memory store it cannot be accessed.
Tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) is a retrieval failure
phenomenon. You KNOW it is there, you just can bring
the information out of storage
Interference
Learning some information may disrupt
retrieval of other information.
Proactive Interference – old information interferes with
remembering new information
● Cell phone was stolen…had to get new phone and new
number, but whenever someone asks for your number,
you still give out your old one
Retroactive Interference – learning of new information
interferes with recall of older information
● Currently in a Calculus class, can’t remember how to solve a
geometry question when your younger sibling asks for help
Retroactive Interference
Sleep avoids retroactive interference thus
leading to better recall…so study before you go to
bed for a test in the morning!
Motivated Forgetting
Motivated Forgetting: People
unknowingly revise their
memories; we don’t remember
items we don’t WANT to
remember
Repression: Defense
mechanism that banishes
anxiety-arousing thoughts,
feelings, and memories from
consciousness.
Culver
Pictures
Sigmund Freud
Why do we forget?
Forgetting can occur at
any memory stage; we
filter, alter, or lose much
information during these
stages.
Some memory loss is
due to factors other than
“forgetting”
Some memory loss is
due to structural damage
to the brain.
Amnesia
●Partial or complete loss of memory
●Causes
oPhysical
 Damage to some part of the brain (Alzheimer’s
disease, stroke, brain trauma)
oPsychological
 Can be triggered by some type of traumatic event
 Most memories will return over time (usually within
a few days)
Amnesia
●Types
oAnterograde amnesia - Inability to remember
ongoing events after the incidence of trauma
or the onset of the disease that caused the
amnesia
oRetrograde amnesia - Inability to remember
events that occurred before the incidence of
trauma or the onset of the disease that caused
the amnesia
NYPD Memory Test
●You will have 5 minutes to study the
photograph shown.
●After the photograph is shown, there will
be questions to answer about the
photograph…so pay close attention to the
details in the photograph.
●Please DO NOT WRITE anything
down…this is a memory test!
Memory Construction
While tapping our memories, we filter or fill in
missing pieces of information to make our recall
more coherent or complete
Misinformation Effect: Incorporating misleading
information into one's memory of an event.
● not done to be deceitful…our brain likes nice,
neat, complete pictures, so it fills in the gaps (think
back a couple units to the Gestalt principles)
Source Amnesia
Source Amnesia: attributing an event to the
wrong source we have experienced, heard,
read, or imagined (misattribution).
True vs. False Memories
Just like true perception and illusion, real
memories or memories that seem real are
difficult to discern…so just because a memory
“feels” real, doesn’t mean it IS real!
Our brain can tell the difference between real and false
memories, but we cannot…
● if something was never heard, there would be no
sensory record to be activated in the temporal lobe
o so if the brain was analyzed when you told about
how you heard the false fact, the temporal lobe
would not be activated
Constructed Memories
Elizabeth Loftus has conducted much research in
this arena...
● Contacted parents of college students and
obtained lists of childhood events that the
students were asked to recall
● To those lists were added plausible events that
never happened like, being lost in a shopping
mall, spilling a punch bowl at a wedding or
meeting Bugs Bunny at Disneyworld
(impossible b/c Bugs not a Disney character)
● After repeated recall attempts over a period of
several days, many of the students claimed to
remember the bogus events…all that was
required were some credible suggestions
Eye Witness Testimony
●Is it accurate???
●
https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=eyewitness+testimony+test&ei=UTF-8&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-004
Eyewitness Testimony & Memory
Construction
Often eyewitness testimony is full of errors…but it is still one of
the main methods used to gain information about crimes!
Important things to remember:
● People’s recollections are less influenced by leading
questions if forewarned that questions could create
memory bias.
● Passage of time allows original memory to fade, so ask
right away for more accurate info.
● The age of the witness matters…younger children and
adults over 65 may be especially susceptible to the
influence of misinformation.
Improving Memory
1.Study repeatedly to boost recall long-term
recall.
2.Spend more time rehearsing or actively
thinking about the material.
3.Make material personally meaningful.
4.Use mnemonic devices:
o associate with peg words — something already
stored
o make up a story
o chunk — acronyms
Improving Memory
1.Activate retrieval cues — mentally recreate
situation and mood.
2.Recall events while they are fresh — before
you encounter misinformation.
3.Minimize interference:
1.Test your own knowledge
2.Rehearse and determine what you do not yet know