Reliability of cognitive processes

Reconstructive Memory

Loftus and Palmer: investigate ways in which memory can be influenced by post-event information/misleading information. in particular, the use of leading questions.

Reliability of memory- the extent to which recall produces consistent results

Eyewitness testimony- the recall of observers of events previously experienced

reconstructive memory- the phenomenon by which memories are not accurate versions of events previously experienced but are built from schemas active at the time of recall

misleading information- knowledge given that suggests a desired answer

Method and results: Loftus and palmer

Students watched a video of a car crash before being asked the same question, with the verb changed: how fast were the cars going when they X with each other. which was either contacted, hit, bumped, smashed, or collided. the mean speed for each word was calculated.

It was found that the mean speed when asked how fast the cars were going when they smashed into each other was significantly higher than when they contacted each other.

the leading question biased the eyewitnesses’ recall of the event.

Biases in thinking and decision making

Tversky and Kahneman: To investigate the availability heuristic

Cognitive biases- illogical, systematic errors in thinking that negatively effect decision making

heuristics- mental shortcuts that generate a probable answer quickly

availability heuristics- the tendency to use information that comes to mind quickly and easily when making decisions.

Method and results: Tversky and Kahneman

4 lists of 39 names, two of entertainers, and 2 of other pubic figures. one of each type of list had 19 names of famous women, and 20 names of less famous men, and the other contained 19 famous men, and 20 less famous women. So the famous always made up the minority. Participants were asked to recall as many names as they could, then predict the number of women in the list as well.

Participants recalled more famous names then less famous, even though it was the minority. More often than not, the participants predicted that there were more of the famous gender, even though they were the minority.

This supports the idea of availability heuristics, as people judged the frequency of something by the ease with which the examples come to mind.