Chapter 8: Memory * Reconstructing the Past * _______________________: Refers to the capacity to retain and retrieve information, and also to the structures that account for this capacity * The Manufacture of Memory * Unlike a tape recorder or video camera, human memory is * Highly _______________________: * Reconstructive * Often drawn from many sources * Source misattribution can occur * _______________________Memories * Some unusual, shocking, or tragic events hold a special place in memory. * Called flashbulb memories because of their surprise, illumination, and photographic detail. * Even flashbulb memories have errors. * The Conditions of Confabulation * _______________________: Confusion of an event that happened to someone else with one that happened to you. Or a belief that you remember something when it never actually happened * Confabulation is especially likely when… * You have thought, heard, or told others about the event many times (imagination inflation). * The image of the event contains many details that make it feel real. * The event is easy to imagine. * Memory and the Power of Suggestion * The Eyewitness On Trial * Eyewitnesses are not always reliable. * Factors influencing accuracy: * Differing _______________________ * Question wording
(e.g., “smashed” vs. “hit”) * _______________________information * Children’s Testimony * Under what conditions are children more suggestible? * When they are very young * When interviewers’ expectations are clear * When other children’s memories for events are accessible * Loftus and Palmer (1974) found that participants had a better recall of events when words like “smashed” or “collided” were used to describe a car accident. * Measuring Memory * _______________________memory: Unconscious retention in memory, as evidenced by the effect of a previous experience or previously encountered information on current thoughts or actions * _______________________memory: Conscious, intentional recollection of an event or item of information * Ways to Measure Explicit Memory * Recall:

* Recognition:

* Ways to Measure Implicit Memory * _______________________: A person reads or listens to information and is later tested to see whether the information affects performance on another type of task * Example: * 1. Person is shown a word * 2. Person is later shown a part of a word * 3. Person is asked to complete the fragment, and is more likely to do so with the word shown earlier * _______________________Method:

* Models of Memory * Information-Processing Models: * Memory involves: * Encoding

* Storage

* Retrieval of information

* The Three-Box Model of Memory

* The Sensory Register: Fleeting Impressions * A memory system that momentarily preserves extremely accurate images of sensory information * Information that is not quickly passed to short-term memory is gone forever. * _______________________ Memory: Memory’s Scratch Pad * Limited capacity memory system. * Involved in retention of information for brief periods. * Also holds information retrieved from long-term memory for temporary use. * _______________________ extends STM’s limited capacity. * Example: For most Americans, FBI is one chunk rather than three. * _______________________ Memory * A cognitively complex form of short-term memory involving active mental processes that: * Control retrieval of information from long-term memory * Interpret that information appropriately for a given task * Control attention