Retrieval

Recall

few or no cues required

• Ex: name and phone number when needing to fill out an application

Retrieval failure

struggle to recall something

• Ex: ‘Tip of the tongue effect’

The serial position effect

when the beginning and end of info is easy to remember; information in the middle is hard to remember

• model created by Hermann Ebbinghaus

Primacy effect

remembering the first few words easily

Recency effect

remembering the last few words easily

Recognition

matching incoming information to what is already in your memory

• type of top down processing

• Ex: multiple-choice questions

False positive

there is just enough similarity between a stimulus that is not in your memory and one that is

Elizabeth Loftus

memory expert; studied inaccuracies in memory

• specifically the misinformation effect

Eyewitness testimonies are influenced by?

• Constructive processing

• Hindsight bias

• Misinformation effect

Constructive processing

memories are reconstructed each time they are retrieved

Hindsight bias

“I knew that was gonna happen”

• falsely believing that you’ve accurately predicted an outcome

Misinformation effect

incorporating inaccurate info into memory

• Ex: Police keep eyewitnesses separate so they do not misinform each other