THINK ABOUT IT
- General world knowledge can cause memory errors.
Inference is one of the mechanisms of the constructive pro-
cess of memory. The following show that inference based
on world knowledge can cause memory errors: (a) prag-
matic inference, (b) Bransford and Johnson’s “pounding
nail” experiment, and (c) the baseball story experiment. - Our knowledge about what is involved in a particular
experience is a schema for that experience. The experi-
ment in which participants were asked to remember
what was in an office illustrates how schemas can cause
errors in memory reports. - A script is our conception of the sequence of actions that
usually occur during a particular experience. The “dentist
experiment,” in which a participant is asked to remember
a paragraph about going to the dentist, illustrates how
scripts can result in memory errors. - The experiment in which people were asked to recall a
list of words related to sleep illustrates how our knowl-
edge about things that belong together (for example, that
sleep belongs with bed) can result in reporting words
that were not on the original list. - Although people often think that it would be an advan-
tage to have a photographic memory, the cases of S. and
A.J. show that it may not be an advantage to be able to
remember everything perfectly. The fact that our memory
system does not store everything may even add to the
survival value of the system. - Memory experiments in which misleading postevent
information (MPI) is presented to participants indicate
that memory can be influenced by suggestion. An exam-
ple is Loftus’s traffic accident experiment. The following
explanations have been proposed to explain the errors
caused by misleading postevent information: (a) memory
trace replacement hypothesis, (b) effect of retroactive
interference, and (c) effect of source monitoring errors.
Lindsay’s experiment provides support for the source
monitoring explanation, but the reasons for the effect of
MPI are still being debated by memory researchers.- An experiment by Hyman, in which he created false
memories for a party, showed that it is possible to cre-
ate false memories for early events in a person’s life.
A similar experiment by Lindsay showed that this false
memory effect for early events can be made stronger by
showing the participants a picture of their first- or sec-
ond-grade class. - There is a great deal of evidence that eyewitness
testimony about crimes can be prone to memory errors.
Some of the reasons for errors in eyewitness testimony
are (a) not paying attention to all relevant details, because
of the emotional situation during a crime (weapons focus
is one example of such an attentional effect); (b) errors
due to familiarity, which can result in misidentification
of an innocent person due to source monitoring error;
(c) errors due to suggestion during questioning about a
crime (the “Good, you identified the suspect” experiment
illustrates how a police officer’s responses can cause
memory errors); (d) increased confidence due to postevent
feedback (the post-identification feedback effect); and
(e) postevent questioning (the reverse testing effect). - Cognitive psychologists have suggested a number of
ways to decrease errors in eyewitness testimony. - The problem of childhood sexual abuse is serious and
widespread. There is the potential, however, that false
memories for abuse can be created by some of the tech-
niques used by therapists to try to help patients remem-
ber events in their past. The problem of differentiating
between accurate memories of abuse and false memories
created in the therapy situation is a serious one because
there is no test or procedure that can accurately differen-
tiate between real memories and false memories. - What do you remember about how you heard about the
terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001? How confident
are you that your memory of these events is accurate?
Given the results of experiments on flashbulb memories
described in this chapter, what do you think the chances
are that your memories might be in error? Are there any
ways that you could check the accuracy of your memories? - What do you remember about what you did on the most
recent major holiday (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New
Year’s, your birthday, etc.)? What do you remember
about what you did on the same holiday 1 year earlier?
How do these memories differ in terms of (a) how diffi-
cult they were to remember, (b) how much detail you can
remember, and (c) the accuracy of your memory? (How
would you know if your answer to part c is correct?) - There have been a large number of reports of people
unjustly imprisoned because of errors in eyewitness tes-
timony, with more cases being reported every day, based
on DNA evidence. Given this situation, how would you
react to the proposal that eyewitness testimony no longer
be admitted as evidence in courts of law? - Interview people of different ages regarding what they
remember about their lives. How do your results fit with
the results of AM experiments, especially regarding the
idea of a reminiscence bump in older people? - The process of reconsolidation was discussed at the end
of Chapter 7. How might this idea provide a physiologi-
cal explanation for the effects of suggestibility on mem-
ory that we discussed in this chapter?
Think ABOUT IT
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