9.2 Myers Psychology

Memory Construction Errors

I. Misinformation and Imagination Effects

  • Misinformation Effect: When inaccurate information is introduced after an event, it can alter a person’s memory of the event.

  • Imagination Effect: The act of imagining details about an event can create false memories, making one believe they experienced those events.

II. Source Amnesia

  • Source Amnesia: The inability to remember where or how one learned certain information, while still remembering the actual information itself.

III. Discerning True and False Memories

  • True Memories: Memories based on actual events that occurred.

  • False Memories: Memories that are either fabricated or distorted, often due to external influences or imagination.

IV. Children’s Eyewitness Recall

  • Children’s Eyewitness Recall: Children’s memories can be more vulnerable to distortion, especially through suggestive questioning or external pressure.

  • Suggestibility: The tendency to accept information provided by others as true, which can distort a child’s memory.

V. Repressed or Constructed Memories of Abuse?

  • Repressed Memories: Memories of traumatic events that are forgotten for a period of time but later recovered, often with therapy.

  • Constructed Memories: Memories that are created or distorted through suggestion, therapy, or external influences.

Summary of Memory Construction Errors:

Memories are not always perfect records of the past and can be influenced by a range of factors that distort their accuracy. The misinformation effect demonstrates how memories can be altered by misleading information after the event. Similarly, the imagination effect shows how simply imagining an event can lead to the creation of false memories.

Source amnesia occurs when people remember information but forget where or how they learned it. When trying to distinguish between real and false memories, it becomes difficult to discern if memories are accurate or if they’ve been altered through suggestion or imagination.

Children's memories, especially as eyewitnesses, are particularly vulnerable to distortion due to suggestibility. There’s also ongoing debate over whether repressed memories (those forgotten for a time) are legitimate recoveries of real events, or if some memories of trauma may be constructed due to external influences.

Vocabulary with Definitions:

  1. Misinformation Effect: Alteration of memory caused by the introduction of misleading information after the event.

  2. Imagination Effect: The creation of false memories by vividly imagining an event.

  3. Source Amnesia: Forgetting where or how you learned certain information, even though you remember the information itself.

  4. True Memories: Memories that accurately reflect actual events.

  5. False Memories: Memories that are either distorted or fabricated, often due to external influences.

  6. Children’s Eyewitness Recall: The accuracy and reliability of children’s memories, which are particularly susceptible to distortion.

  7. Suggestibility: The tendency to accept external suggestions or information as truth, leading to memory distortion.

  8. Repressed Memories: Traumatic memories that are forgotten for a time but later recovered, often in therapeutic contexts.

  9. Constructed Memories: False memories created or distorted through suggestion, therapy, or external pressure.