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CHAPTER 8
EVERYDAY MEMORY/MEMORY ERRORS
What is the narrative rehearsal hypothesis for memory for life events?
Describe evidence from research on peoples’ memories from college that suggests that autobiographical memory is better for transition points.
What is the reminiscence bump?
memory is best for events that occur between the ages of 10 and 30
How does the self-image hypothesis explain the reminiscence bump?
memory is enhanced for events that occur as a person’s self-image or life identity is being formed
self-image or identity is primarily associated with adolescence and young adulthood, roughly around the 10 to 30 age span
How does the cognitive hypothesis explain the reminiscence bump?
encoding is better during periods of rapid change followed by cognitive stability
many changes occur between 10 to 30, stability is formed after since not many changes occur ages 30+
How does the cultural life script hypothesis explain the reminiscence bump?
set of culturally expected events that occur in a particular time in the life span can help organize information
several life milestones, expectations, etc. from ages 10 to 30, which can create an organization method that allows easier recalling for memories
Describe Schrauf & Rubin’s research on the reminiscence bump in immigrant who moved to the US at different times of life.
studied memory recalling among people who migrated in their 20s VS people who migrated in their 30s
late emigration group had a higher recall rate
Which hypothesis do the findings of Schrauf and Rubin’s research support?
cognitive hypothesis
How does emotion affect memory?
they may trigger mechanisms in the amygdala that help us remember events associated with the emotions
What are the effects on information that is itself emotional?
linked to improved memory consolidation
What are the effects on neutral information that is encountered in an emotional context?
less likely to be recalled in comparison to emotionally arousing information
What is the role of the amygdala in influencing memory for emotional information?
increased activity in the amygdala
What is the role of the amygdala in influencing memory for neutral information?
lowered activity in the amygdala
What is the role of the stress hormones in influencing memory for emotional information?
if exposed to stress, more likely to recall emotional information
What is the role of the stress hormones in influencing memory for neutral information?
if exposed to stress, less likely to recall neutral information in comparison to emotional information
What is weapons focus?
witness has a good memory for a weapon as it is an emotionally charged stimuli, while forgetting other important details of the same event
What are flashbulb memories?
memories related to shocking, highly charged events
In what ways are flashbulb memories the same as other types of memories?
similar loss of detail over time
In what ways are flashbulb memories unique?
people mistakenly think they are accurate, when they are typically not
typically focus on how the memory’s information was obtained, rather than the actual memory of the event itself
What is the repeated recall technique for studying autobiographical memories?
involves comparing later memories to memories collected immediately
What does it mean to say that memory is constructive?
what people report as memories are constructed based on what actually happened plus additional factors (knowledge, experiences, expectations, etc.)
What is source misattribution?
misidentifying the source of a memory
What is cryptomnesia?
previously-stored memories are mistaken for original creations
“accidental plagiarism”
Describe Jacoby and colleagues “Becoming famous overnight” experiment.
participants were assigned to read lists of non-famous names
then, were asked to read non-famous names plus some new famous names; were asked to select which names were famous
immediate group: participants did not mistake names on the list for famous names
delayed (24-hour) group: told to come the following day; mistakenly judged some of the names to be famous
What do the findings of Jacoby’s experiment tell us about the role of the familiarity in source misattributions?
names might remain familiar, but the source of familiarity will remain unknown or remembered incorrectly
names that are common have a high “baseline” level of familiarity, so don’t receive much of a boost just from appearing on a list
Laura Williams (famous) VS Sebastian Wiess-Dorf (not famous)
How can information from stereotypes influence source memory?
can misattribute characteristics based on prior assumptions
What is an event schema/script?
knowledge about a sequence of actions that usually occurs during a particular experience
What is a scene schema?
knowledge about what typically appears in some aspect of a given environment
How does an event schema/script differ from a scene schema?
series of actions/steps VS series of items/objects
How do schemas influence memory?
can be used to reconstruct or fill in gaps of a memory
How do scripts influence memory?
by setting up expectations about what usually happens in a particular situation
What is the misinformation effect?
misleading information presented after a person witnesses an event can change how the person describe that event later
Describe work by Loftus and colleagues that demonstrate the role of misleading post-event information (MPI) in distorting memories of events.
STEP 1: participants saw a series of slides in which a car stops at a stop sign and then turns the corner and hits a pedestrian
group 1: “Did another car pass the red Ford while it was stopped at the stoop sign?”
group 2: “Did another car pass the red Ford while it was stopped at the yield sign?”
STEP 2: participants were shown pictures from the slide show plus some pictures they had never seen
group 2: more likely to say they had seen the picture of the car stopped at the yield sign
What role can familiarity misattribution play in distorting eyewitness testimony?
eyewitness may misidentify the source of familiarity
risk of assumption that familiarity is in relation to the crime
What role can memory suggestibility play in distorting eyewitness testimony?
memories can change after the fact
how we are questions about our memories changes the memory itself
What role can post-event identification feedback play in distorting eyewitness testimony?
increases confidence after making an identification
confidence can be incorrect
What are the four best practice recommendations for constructing and administering police lineups?
inform the witness that the perpetrator may not be in the particular lineup they’re viewing
use “fillers” who are similar to the suspect
use a “blind lineup administrator
have witnesses rate their confidence immediately
Describe the reasoning behind informing the witness that the perpetrator may not be in the particular lineup they’re viewing.
when a witness assumes that the perpetrator is in the lineup, this increases the chances that an innocent person who looks similar to the perpetrator will be selected
Describe the reasoning behind using “fillers” who are similar to the suspect.
similarity does result in missed identification of some guilty suspects but substantially reduces the erroneous identification of innocent people, especially when the perpetrator is not in the lineup
Describe the reasoning behind using a “blind” lineup administrator.
reduces the chances that the expectations of the person administering the lineup will bias the outcome
Describe the reasoning behind having witnesses rate their confidence immediately.
high confidence measured at the time of identification is associated with more accurate identifications
What are the four guiding principles of the cognitive interview?
reestablish the context within which the crime took place
let the witness tell their story as it comes naturally to them
ask witness to recount events in different orders, starting from different locations or times
ask witness to try changing perspective and retelling
How do the four guiding principles of the cognitive interview take advantage of what is known about human memory to improve interviewing techniques?
helps jog corrected memories and avoid false memories
CHAPTER 9
CONCEPTUAL KNOWLEDGE
What are mirror neurons?
neurons that first when an action is performed and when the same action is witnessed being performed
link between perception and motor responses
Where are mirror neurons located in the brain?
prefrontal cortex
What does it mean to say that members of a category have family resemblance?
things in a particular category resemble one another in a number of ways
How is using categories based on family resemblance different than using definitions to categorize things?
not everything in the real world can be strictly defined or compared to a single definition
What is a prototype?
a “typical” member of a given category
What are four pieces of evidence that are consistent with the idea that people use prototypes during categorization?
the identification of birds ranges from robins and sparrows to owls and penguins
What is the typicality effect in sentence verification?
participants are more likely to list the most prototypical members of a category when listing as many objects as possible (EX: “bird” instead of “penguin”)
How does the exemplar approach to categorization differ from the prototype approach?
instead of using the “average” member of a category, it refers to a specific set of examples previously encountered
What types of category members are handled better by the exemplar approach?
atypical cases (EX: flightless birds)
games (EX: computer games, board games, sports, etc.)
What are basic categories?
branches of broadest category level (EX: chair, table, bed)
What are subordinate categories?
broadest or global category level (EX: furniture)
What are superordinate categories?
specific category level (EX: kitchen table, dining table)
Give three pieces of evidence that people typically prefer to use basic categories.
participants were more likely to pick a basic level name for various categories rather than global or specific level names
participants were shown a category label and then presented a picture after a brief delay
participants were asked to identify if the picture was a member of the category and accomplished the task more rapidly for basic level categories than for global level categories
When are basic categories not preferred?
when the person is an expert within a given category
What does it mean to say that the basic level is the most efficient level of categorization?
Describe the structure of the Collins & Quillian hierarchical semantic network model.
network consisting of nodes, connected by links
each node represents a category or concept
concepts are placed in the network so that related concepts are connected
How does sentence verification work according to the Collins & Quillian hierarchical semantic network model?
the time it takes to retrieve information about a concept should be determined by the distance that must travel through the network
EX: it should take longer to verify “a canary is an animal” than “a canary is a bird”
What is the cognitive economy?
sorting shared properties just once at a higher-level node
lower nodes inherit properties of nodes above them
exceptions stored at lower nodes
What is the distance effects?
more “distance” between two concepts leads to more time needed for processing
What is spreading activation?
activity that spreads out along any link that is connected to an activated node
What is the lexical decision task?
participants read stimuli and must indicate as quickly as possible whether each entry is a word or nonword
EX: “no” for bloog, “yes” for bloat
How has the lexical decision task been used to provide evidence for spreading activation?
reaction time was faster when two words were associated (EX: wheat and bread)
Describe two experimental findings that Collins & Quillian’s model cannot account for.
typicality effect
reaction times for statements about an object are faster for more typical members of a category than for less typical members
cognitive economy
people may store specific properties of concepts right at the node for that concept
What are representation units of the connectionist model of semantic memory?
grouping of input units
What are hidden units of the connectionist model of semantic memory?
receive stimulation from input units
What are hidden units of the connectionist model of semantic memory?
receive simulation from input units
send signals to output units
What are output units of the connectionist model of semantic memory?
receive stimulation from hidden units
represent “end point” of processing
What are property units of the connectionist model of semantic memory?
grouping of output units
Which units receive input from the outside world in the connectionist model of semantic memory?
input units
Which units receive input from other units in the connectionist model of semantic memory?
hidden units
output units
What are connection weights in a connectionist model?
determine how signals sent from one unit either increase or decrease the activity of the next unit
How do connection weights allow the connectionist model of semantic memory to account for typicality effects?
allows some concepts to be stronger or better category members than others
What is back propagation?
error signals that are sent back to the hidden units and the representation units provide information about how the connection weights should be adjusted so that the correct property units will be activated
What purpose does back propagation serve?
sends the error signal back through the network which contributes to the learning process
CHAPTER 11
LANGUAGE
What does it mean to say that language is hierarchical?
it consists of a series of small components that can be combined to form larger units
In what ways is language “universal” for humans?
language occurs wherever there are people
What is syntax?
the structure of a sentence
What are semantics?
the meaning of language
What are phonemes?
smallest unit of speech sound
What is the phonemic restoration effect?
“fill in” missing phonemes based on context of sentence and portion of word presented
Why is the phonemic restoration effect an example of top-down processing?
uses information and knowledge about phonemes to gaps
What are morphemes?
smallest unit that signals meaning
What is the word frequency effect?
people respond more rapidly to high-frequency words than to low-frequency words
How has the word frequency effect been studied using the lexical decision task?
displayed slower response times to low-frequency words and quicker response times to high-frequency words
What is lexical ambiguity?
words having more than one meaning
What is biased dominance?
one meaning occurs more often than the other meaning
What is balanced dominance?
one meaning and the other meaning are equally likely
How do meaning dominance and context jointly determine which meanings of ambiguous words are accessed during sentence processing?
if the ambiguous word has no prior context, meaning and speed is determined by dominance
if the ambiguous word does have prior context, meaning and speed is determined by dominance and context
What is parsing?
how meaning is created by the grouping words into phrases
What are garden-path sentences?
sentences appearing to mean one thing but end up meaning something else
Compare and contrast the syntax first approach to parsing.
Compare and contrast the interactionist approach to parsing.
Which is the principle of late closure?
when a person encounters a new word, the person’s parsing mechanism assumes that this word is part of the current phase, so each new word is added to the current phrase for as long as possible
How is the interactionist approach to parsing supported by the use word meaning to guide parsing?