distorted worlds week 1

Reconstructive Memory & memory paradox

memory retrieval actively reconstructs events using stored information, schemas and later experiences

memory paradox = memory is reconstructive; the same associations that improve retrieval can also produce distortions

memory errors

omission error = individual fails to remember something that actually took place

distortion error = an event is remembered, but specific details within the memory are incorrect

intrusion error = elements from another memory/general knowledge enter into and become part of the recalled event & transplant error = information from one event can mistakenly enter the memory of another

false memory = recollection of an entire event/circumstance that never occurred → can be recalled in confidence and detail

DRM Paradigm (Deese-Roediger-McDermott)

A laboratory procedure where participants hear lists of words semantically linked to an unstated theme (e.g., bed, rest, dream), reliably producing false recall of the unpresented critical lure (e.g., sleep) with high confidence.

critical lure = the associated but unrepresented word

what does the DRM paradigm demonstrate?

semantic associations can produce confident false recall of words never presented

Schema

A generalized knowledge structure representing what is typical or expected in a given situation, which aids comprehension and fills memory gaps, but can also lead to systematic distortions.

how do schemas both help and distort memory?

they organise information and support inference but can introduce expectations into recall

Brewer & Treyens (1981)

A classic study where participants waited in an academic office for $35\,\text{seconds}$ mentioned specific academic-office schemas $9/30$ participants falsely reported seeing books, which were not present.

Bartlett's 'War of the Ghosts' (1932)

A demonstration of reconstructive memory where British participants read an unfamiliar Native American folktale and systematically transformed confusing or culturally unusual elements into familiar, coherent details matching their cultural schemas.

Misinformation Effect

The distortion of a memory caused by an individual's exposure to misleading information after the original event took place.

what is source-monitoring error?

mistaking the origin of remembered information, such as confusing imagination with experience

Loftus & Palmer (1974)

A study demonstrating the misinformation effect where participants asked how fast cars were going when they 'smashed' into each other estimated $41\,\text{mph}$ compared to $34\,\text{mph}$ for 'hit' (a change of approximately $20\%$) and were more likely to falsely recall seeing broken glass.

Imagination Inflation

A phenomenon wherein simply imagining a suggested event increases an individual's subjective confidence and belief that the event actually occurred.

Decay

A proposed mechanism of forgetting where physical memory traces in the brain naturally weaken and fade simply due to the passage of time.

retroactive & proactive interference

retroactive = old information disrupts new

retroactive = new information disrupts old

Retrieval Failure

A condition in which information remains stored in long-term memory but cannot currently be accessed or retrieved.

Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve

A mathematical curve demonstrating that forgetting occurs rapidly immediately after learning and subsequently slows down over time, with the exact rate depending partly on initial learning quality.

Baddeley & Hitch (1977)

Study showing rugby players' forgetting was predicted by the number of intervening games rather than elapsed time, supporting interference theory.

Cognitive Interview

An evidence-based interviewing technique designed to improve eyewitness recall by providing multiple diverse retrieval cues and routes to access stored memories.

Testing / Retrieval Practice Effect

The cognitive finding that actively and repeatedly retrieving information produces superior long-term retention compared to repeated passive rereading.

Autobiographical Memory

A memory system concerning personally experienced events from one's own life, heavily shaped by self-concept, emotional arousal, and time & self-reference effect = information processed in relation to the self is remembered better

Self-Schema Distortion

an individual’s current self-concept, beliefs and attitudes bias the recall of their autobiographical past to align with their present identity and self-image

medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) = actively engaged during self-referential processing & integration of information into existing self-schemas

Emotional Memory Consolidation Mechanism

emotional arousal can modulate memory consolidation through interactions involving the amygdala and hippocampus

Emotional Narrowing

The tendency of high emotional arousal to focus attention on central, emotionally relevant elements of an event, leaving peripheral details poorly encoded.

Flashbulb Memories

Exceptionally vivid, long-lasting recollections of the circumstances in which one learned of a highly shocking or emotional event, which often change over time despite high subjective confidence.

what is single dissociation?

one cognitive ability is impaired while another is relatively preserved

what is double dissociatio?

opposite patterns of selective impairment across two cases or conditions

Bahrick, Bahrick & Wittlinger (1975)

A long-term memory study finding that individuals' ability to match high school classmates' faces and names remained stable at roughly $90\%$ accuracy across many decades.

Childhood Amnesia

The universal observation that adults possess very few, if any, autobiographical memories from the earliest years of their childhood.

Hyperthymesia (HSAM)

Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory; an extremely rare condition characterized by near-perfect autobiographical recall of one's past, yet leaving individuals just as vulnerable to false memories as typical people.

acquisition failure

The failure to properly encode or learn information into memory initially, meaning the information was never stored rather than being forgotten.

e,g, tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon = holds access to related information without being able to retrieve it

Modal Model of Memory (Atkinson & Shiffrin 1968)

A foundational structural model dividing memory into sensory memory (iconic $\le 1\,\text{second}$, echoic $5\,\text{seconds}$), short-term memory ($15\text{--}20\,\text{seconds}$ without rehearsal, capacity of $5\text{--}9$ items), and long-term memory = unlimited capacity and duration

Working Memory Model (Baddeley & Hitch 1974)

A multicomponent model for maintaining and manipulating information consisting of the central executive, phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, and the episodic buffer (added in 2000).

Episodic Memory

A subcategory of memory dedicated to personally experienced events situated in specific temporal and spatial contexts ('what', 'where', 'when') that relies on autonoetic consciousness.

Autonoetic Consciousness

The capacity to be consciously aware of one's own continuous existence through subjective time, allowing for mental time travel into one's personal past.

Hippocampal Data Integration

The role of the hippocampus in binding separate cortical input streams—frontal (planning/attention), temporal (sensory/object data), and parietal (spatial 'where' information)—into a coherent episodic memory representation.

neutral reinstatement & reconsolidation

neutral reinstatement = reactivation of neural activity patterns associated with a previously encoded experience during memory retrieval

reconsolidation = a process through which a reactivated memory may undergo stabilisation and modification

Transient & Persistent Memory Errors

transient = social influence errors where a person conforms to a group's incorrect response in the moment, but returns to reporting the correct answer once the social pressure is removed

persistent = socially induced errors where an individual internalizes false group information and continues to report the false memory even after being informed the group responses were false

Hippocampal Misinformation Reinstatement

The neurological finding that when participants falsely recall post-event misinformation, their hippocampus reactivates neural patterns corresponding to the misleading detail rather than the original event.

Wade et al. (2017)

A re-coding study that re-evaluated claims that criminal false memories could be implanted in $70\%$ of participants, finding the true rate of full constructed false memories to be closer to $30\%$.