Reconstructive Memory and Emotion & Cognition/Memory

Reconstructive Memory

Memory is a reconstructive process, which means memories are actively and consciously rebuilt when we are trying to remember certain things.

Emotion and cognition/memory

interconnected mental processes, and neither can accurately be understood without the influence of the other. Emotions can affect how we process and remember information, while our cognitive processes, such as perception and memory, can influence our emotional responses.

Neisser and harsch

Aim

To test the theory of flashbulb memory by investigating the extent to which memory for a shocking event (the 1986 Challenge disaster) would be accurate after a period of time.

Procedure

-106 students in an introductory psychology class were given a questionnaire and asked to describe how they heard news of the Challenge disaster less than 24 hours after the event.
-The questionnaire included seven questions related to where they were, what they were doing, etc., and what emotional feelings they experienced at the time of the disaster.
-44 of the original students answered the questionnaire two and a half years later, and were asked to rate their confidence on a scale of 1 to 5 in terms of the memory accuracy.
-Participants were also asked if they had filled out a questionnaire to the subject before.
-After the last questionnaires, researchers performed a semi-structured interview to test if participants could remember what they had written previously.

Findings

-Only 11 out of 44 participants remembered that they had filled out the questionnaire before .
-There were major discrepancies between the original report and the one two-and a half years later. The mean score of correctness of recall of the seven questions was 2.95 out of 7.
-For 11 participants the score was 0, and 22 scored 2 or less.
-The average level of confidence in accuracy for the questions was 4.17.
-3 of 44 students had perfect recall.
-25% had completely inaccurate memory.
-40% of the subjects had distorted memory.

Conclusions

-The results of the study challenge the theory of flashbulb memory and the reliability of memory, as participants were highly confident they remembered the event correctly and could not explain the difference between their first and second accounts.
-Memories were possibly affected by post-event information (reconstructive memory).

Applications

-Provides insight into how memories can be distorted after a period of time.
-Eye witness may not be reliable sources in court due to reconstructive memory.
-Supports that the FBM theory is not reliable.

Evaluations (Strengths)

-High ecological validity due to naturalistic event.
-Questionnaires and interviews allow for in-depth answers.
-Information of participants were kept confidential.

Evaluations (Limitations

-Participants were psychology students, therefore not a representative sample.
-Cultural factors not accounted for.
-Type of event (public/private) can influence how well people remember.
-Small sample size.
-No cause-effect relationship.

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