Understanding the Sins of Memory and Amnesia

Transience

The tendency to forget information over time.

Absentmindedness

Forgetting due to lapses in attention or focus.

Blocking

Inability to retrieve information even though you know it.

Proactive Interference

Older information interferes with the ability to learn or recall new information.

Retroactive Interference

New information interferes with the ability to recall older information.

Misattribution

Confusing the source of information or memory.

Suggestibility

The tendency to incorporate misleading information from external sources into memory.

Bias

The distortion of memories based on personal beliefs, emotions, or experiences.

Consistency Bias

The tendency to exaggerate or change memories to make them consistent with one's current beliefs, values, or attitudes.

Egocentric Bias

The tendency to remember past events in a way that makes us appear more favorable or successful.

Persistence

The continual recollection of disturbing or unwanted memories.

Forgetting Curve

A graphical representation showing that we forget most information shortly after learning it.

Tip-of-the-Tongue Syndrome

The phenomenon where you have access to the information but can't recall it at that moment.

Elizabeth Loftus's Contribution

Loftus's research on misinformation effect and false memories is crucial in understanding how suggestibility works.

Lost in the Mall Study

A study demonstrating how easily people can 'remember' fabricated events when suggested by others.

Hermann Ebbinghaus

Known for his work on forgetting and the forgetting curve.

Memory Distortions

Alterations in memory that can lead to false recollections.

External Influence

Factors such as leading questions or media that can distort memory.

Personal Beliefs

Current knowledge, attitudes, and feelings that influence how we remember the past.

False Memories

Memories that are distorted or fabricated, often due to suggestibility.
Memories that individuals believe to be true but are actually distorted or fabricated.

Multitasking

Engaging in multiple tasks simultaneously, often leading to absentmindedness.

Misinformation Effect

The phenomenon where memories can be distorted or implanted through suggestion, leading to false memories.

Elizabeth Loftus

A researcher known for her studies on the malleability of memory and the misinformation effect.

Leading Questions

Questions that suggest a particular answer or contain information that can influence the respondent's memory.

Lost in the Mall Study

An experiment by Elizabeth Loftus demonstrating how false memories can be implanted in individuals.

Anterograde Amnesia

The inability to form new memories after a traumatic event or brain injury.

Retrograde Amnesia

The inability to recall memories from the past, typically after a brain injury.

Henry Molaison (HM)

A famous case study in memory research who developed anterograde amnesia after brain surgery.

Hippocampus

A brain structure crucial for encoding new long-term memories, as evidenced by HM's case.

Alzheimer's Disease

A progressive neurodegenerative disorder causing a gradual decline in cognitive functions, including memory.

Cognitive Decline

A general term for a decrease in cognitive functions severe enough to interfere with daily life.

Memory Manipulation

The process by which memories can be altered or influenced by external suggestions.

Eyewitness Testimony

A legal term referring to an account given by people of an event they witnessed, which can be affected by memory distortion.

Sensory Elements in Memory

Details related to the senses that can be vividly recalled in false memories.

Emotional Regulation

The ability to manage and respond to emotional experiences, which can decline in Alzheimer's disease.

Procedural Memory

A type of long-term memory related to the performance of tasks and skills, which can remain intact despite anterograde amnesia.

Memory Suggestibility

The tendency for memories to be influenced by external suggestions or misinformation.

Traumatic Events

Experiences that can lead to significant psychological distress and impact memory.

Vivid Details in Memory

Specific and clear recollections of events that can be reported even for fabricated memories.

Impact of Brain Injury

The effects that trauma to the brain can have on memory formation and recall.

Memory Distortion

The alteration of a memory that can occur due to various factors, including suggestion.

Alzheimer's disease

A progressive disease that primarily affects the brain's hippocampus and other regions managing language, reasoning, and behavior, leading to severe memory loss and functional impairment.

Amyloid plaques

Abnormal clumps that accumulate between neurons, disrupting communication and activating an inflammatory response that can damage the brain.

Memory loss

A symptom of Alzheimer's characterized by forgetting recent events, such as appointments or names of familiar people.

Cognitive decline

Problems with planning, organizing, and making decisions, often seen in Alzheimer's patients.

Language issues

Difficulty in finding the right words or following conversations, commonly experienced by individuals with Alzheimer's.

Behavioral changes

Increased confusion, irritability, anxiety, and withdrawal observed in Alzheimer's patients.

Loss of daily functioning

Difficulty with tasks such as dressing, cooking, or bathing, which can occur in Alzheimer's.

Acetylcholine (ACh)

A neurotransmitter critical for memory formation, attention, and learning, with reduced levels in Alzheimer's impacting cognitive functioning.

Impact on Cognitive Functions

Reduced acetylcholine leads to memory impairment, learning difficulties, and attention problems in Alzheimer's patients.

Flashbulb Memory

A detailed memory of an emotionally significant event.

Context in memory

Relies on environmental cues and consistency, such as chewing gum helping to remember things for tests.

Mood congruence

The emotional state at the time of encoding or recall influences memory retrieval.

State dependent memory

When a person remembers better while under the influence of a specific state.

Chunking

A strategy to help remember information by breaking it into smaller, manageable units.

Mnemonics

Memory aids that help in the retention of information.

Elaborative rehearsal

A strategy that involves linking new information to existing knowledge to enhance memory.

Self testing

A technique where individuals test their own knowledge to improve retention.

Visual imagery

Using mental images to help remember information.

Spaced learning

A learning technique that involves spreading out study sessions over time.

Transience

Forgetting materials over a certain period of time.

Absent Mindfulness

Not paying attention to certain things, leading to forgetting.

Blocking

A temporary state of forgetting information.

Bias

Letting emotions, beliefs, and morals define memory.

Persistence

Repeated recall of a memory, which can be either negative or positive.

Constructive memory

The concept that memories are not always as they seem and can be created.

Eyewitness testimony

The influence of how a question is asked on a person's answer, which can introduce bias.

Amnesia

Loss of memory, typically due to brain injury or psychological trauma.