Memory ConstructionPeriod 3

#10

How do misinformation, imagination, and source amnesia influence our memory construction? How real seeming are false memories?

Vocabulary:● Misinformation effect: incorporating misleading information into one’s memory of an

event

● Source Amnesia: or (misattribution): Retaining the memory of the event, but not the context in which we acquired it.

● Misinformation effects: eyewitnesses similarly reconstruct their memories when later questioned.

● Discerning True and False memories: Because memory is reconstruction as well as reproduction, we can't be sure whether a memory is real by how we feel.

● Children’s eyewitness recall: Children are especially accurate when they have not talked with involved adults prior to the interview and when their disclosure is made in a first interview with a neutral person who asks non leading questions.

Examples:● Source amnesia: Authors and songwriters sometimes suffer source

amnesia. they think an idea came from their own creative imagination, when in fact they are unintentionally plagiarizing something they earlier read or heard.

● Children’s eyewitness recall: In experiments with adults, suggestive questions(“In fresh water, do snakes swim upside down for about half the time?”) are often misremembered as statements.

● Misinformation and imagination affects: Older adults are more susceptible than younger adults to false memories. This makes older adults more vulnerable to scams.

Anecdotes: ● Misinformation Effect: In a study by Elizabeth Loftus, people were shown a

film of a traffic accident and then quizzed about what they saw. When suggestively asked “How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?” the speeds given were much higher than those who were asked “how fast were the cars going when they hit each other?”. In addition, those who had the question using the word smashed, had reported they did see glass fragments when there was no broken glass in the film.

Anecdotes:● Children’s eyewitness recall: In one study, Stephen Ceci had a child choose

a card from a deck of possible happenings and an adult read from the card. For example, the adult would ask the child if certain events had occurred to them and whether or not they remembered it. After 10 weekly interviews, a new adult asked the same questions. 58 percent of preschoolers produced false stories regarding one or more events they had never experienced.

● Source amnesia: Debra Poole and Stephen Lindsay designed an experiment among preschoolers who joined “Mr. Science” in various scientific activities and experiments. Three months later, for three days in a row, parents read their children stories about some activities the children did, as well as ones they did not. After asked “Did Mr. Science have/do _____?”, 40% of the children spontaneously had a memory of him doing what only happened in the story.

REVIEW QUIZ:1. The misinformation effect is when people misremember things after they are exposed to subtle

misinformation. True or False.2. People commonly reconstruct memories of events based on how the event was described to

them. True or False.3. What is the term used to explain when you retain the memory of the event but not the context in

which it was acquired?a. Source Amnesiab. Misinformation effectc. Interferenced. deja vu

4. We can judge a memory’s reality by its persistence and how real it feels. True or False.5. When can children’s eyewitness accounts be trusted?

e. Neverf. Alwaysg. Only when questioned using neutral words they understandh. Only when using suggestive questions

REVIEW QUIZ CONTINUED:6. The most confident and consistent eyewitness testimonies are the most accurate. True or False.7. People tend to recall memories closer to how they feel today rather than how the events actually occurred. True or False.8.Incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event is an example of Source amnesia? True of False.9. What people are more susceptible to false memories?

a. White Peopleb. Only adultsc. People with damaged frontal lobes and childrend. Only children

10.Recalling a yield sign as a stop sign is an example of the Misinformation Effect ? True or False.

Review Quiz Answer Key1. True2. True3. A.4. False5. C.6. False7. True8. False9. C.10. True