Reliability of Memory

Learning Outcome C9- With reference to relevant research studies, to what

extent is one cognitive process (memory) reliable?

Your Task Watch the following Video and answer the questions on your

questionnaire.

Pay attention to details.

Loftus and Palmer (1974)

Your Instructions Record your estimated speed under the correct category and

calculate the speed for each category.

Loftus & Palmer (1974)

Aim: To investigate whether the use of

leading questions would affect recall in a

situation where participants were asked to

estimate speed.

Method: College students were shown a

video of a car crash and asked to answer

the question “About how fast were the cars

going when they into

each other?”

Smashed, Hit, Collided, bumped, contacted…All

varying degrees of severity

Loftus & Palmer (1974) Continued

Findings: The mean estimates of speed

were highest in the “smashed” condition

(40.8 mph) and the lowest in the

“contacted” group (31.8 mph).

Conclusions: Memory can be manipulated

by using specific words when asking a

question.

Humans recreate memory using our

schemas which are impacted by wording of

questions.

Critical Thinking?

Loftus’s Theory of Recall

Original

Experience

Integration of

original

Experience

into Long-

Term memory

Question

asked

regarding

original

Experience

Recreation of

Original

Experience

Response to

Question

Original

Experience

Integration of

original

Experience

into Long-

Term memory

Integration of

new info into

LTM

Question

Asked

Reconstructio

n of Memory

w/ new info

Response to

Question

Old Model

Loftus et al. (2012)

Aim: To investigate whether misinformation

could affect memory for a recently

experienced, personally relevant, highly

stressful event.

Method:

Provided misinformation to 800 military

personnel about the interrogator in a mock POW

camp interrogation as part of their Survival

School Training.

Questions asked about the physical appearance

of the interrogator (Glasses? Weapon?)

Asked the participants to identify the interrogator

by looking at photographs.

Loftus et al (2012)

Findings: More than half of the participants

inaccurately identified their interrogator.

Conclusion: Memories for stressful events

are highly vulnerable to modification by

exposure to misinformation, even in

individuals whose level of training and

experience might help them be more

immune to such influences.

Critical Thinking? Connections?

Discussion Questions

In Ferguson, to what extent can we trust the eye witness accounts?

Should eye witness accounts be used in determining whether the Officer should be put on put on trial for murder?

How accurate do you think your memory is? Are there times when it is better or worse?

How can we apply these ideas to areas outside of the courtroom?