Module 10 (Memory Distortions)

DISTORTIONS IN MEMORY

PART 1: MEMORY IS FALLIBLE

  • Course Information: PSYC 363 - Arlo Clark-Foos, PhD, University of Michigan Dearborn.

MEMORY TEST

  • Nickerson & Adams (1979): Key questions to assess memory reliability.

    • What is your mother’s birthday?

    • Capital of North Carolina?

    • Identify the correct penny?

    • Findings show 40% accuracy.

DISTORTIONS IN MEMORY RESEARCH

ACCIDENT STUDY

  • Video Analysis: Reference to a car accident video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rg5bBJQOL7).

SELECTIVE ATTENTION TEST

  • Simons & Chabris (1999): Conducted a test demonstrating the limitations of selective attention (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U2Mv).

DOOR STUDY

  • Simons & Levin (1998): Highlights unexpected changes and failures of awareness (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWSXSQsspiQ).

POP QUIZ QUESTIONS

  • Participants were asked:

    • How many vehicles were involved in the video of the car accident?

    • What color were the vehicles?

    • How fast were the cars traveling at the moment of collision?

    • Unrelated question: Which city is further East: Reno, NV or San Diego, CA?

TYPES OF MEMORY DISTORTIONS

  1. Elaborations during encoding.

  2. Inability to encode information.

  3. Misleading information at the stage of encoding.

  4. Retrieval biases affecting recall.

  5. Verbal processing impacts understanding and recall.

FUN ACTIVITY

  • Interactive Game: Engaging participation with scenarios.

    • Example dialogue involving humorous elements.

SCHEMAS AND STEREOTYPES AFFECTING MEMORY

  • Allport & Postman (1958): Research on how cognitive schemas influence memory.

VERBAL PROCESSING AND RETRIEVAL

  • Loftus & Palmer (1974): Research on how the choice of verbs impacts memory recall regarding speed estimates of vehicles in an accident.

    • Various reported speeds based on verb usage:

      • "Smashed" - 40.8 mph

      • "Collided" - 39.3 mph

      • "Bumped" - 38.1 mph

      • "Hit" - 34.0 mph

      • "Contacted" - 31.8 mph

    • Suggests one week later, participants recalled seeing broken glass (not present).

WEAPON FOCUS EXPERIMENT

  • Johnson & Scott (1976): Participants were exposed to different situations (pen vs. knife) and later asked about the environment related to the event.

    • Investigated attention bias related to weapon presence.

DISTORTIONS IN MEMORY PART 2

  • Eyewitness Testimony:

    • Loftus (1975): Study on conviction rates based on eyewitness accounts with varying conditions of sight.

      • Eyewitness testimony significantly impacts jury decisions:

        • Circumstantial Evidence + Eyewitness with 20/400 vision resulted in:

          • 18% would convict

          • 72% with clear sight

          • 68% with better sight conditions.

UNUSUAL EVENT RECOGNITION - 2017 STUDY

  • Example scenario of a convenience store incident: highlighting memory of unusual actions.

EYEWITNESS MEMORY IN FIELD SETTINGS

  • Brigham et al. (1982): Experiments on recognition after time intervals.

    • Examined accuracy across different timings (2 vs. 24 hours).

CONTEXTUAL CUES IN MEMORY

  • Sanders (1984): Investigates how context reinstatement influences memory accuracy in a mock lineup situation involving distinctive features.

JURORS AND EYEWITNESS MEMORY

  • Cutler, Penrod, & Dexter (1990): Demonstrated jurors' insensitivity to factors impacting eyewitness memory.

    • Critical variables manipulated included retention interval and witness confidence.

MISINFORMATION EFFECTS

  • Loftus & Greene (1980): Study demonstrating how misleading information distorts memory.

    • Participants exposed to differing narratives about seen faces reported inconsistent details.

    • Consistent descriptions led to 70% correct recognition versus 33% when misled.

OVERWRITING MEMORY THEORY

  • Loftus, Miller, & Burns (1978): Introduced the concept of misleading information overwriting previous memory constructs.

RETROACTIVE INTERFERENCE THEORY

  • McCloskey & Zaragoza (1985): Investigated how new learning of information can interfere with recall of prior information.

PART 3: MEMORY IS MULTI-COMPONENT

FADING SNAPSHOT THEORY

  • Suggests that memory is not a single entity but consists of visually stored information influenced by perception and associated meanings.

MEMORY COMPONENTS

  • Memory encompasses various elements:

    • Emotional features

    • Semantic features

    • Episodic features

    • Visual/Auditory features

    • Linguistic attributes

NONCRITERIAL RECOLLECTION

  • Parks (2007): Highlighted instances where noncritical information affects other judgments.

SPATIAL COGNITION

  • Explored the ability to track and judge distances and locations, assessing impact on memory and perception.

BIASES IN SPATIAL COGNITION

  • Evaluated through multiple research studies demonstrating biases such as the cluster effect and judgments based on perceived sizes.

COGNITIVE REFERENCE POINTS

  • Discussed how imagined reference points affect estimates of distances and orientations.

SUMMARY OF DISTORTIONS IN MEMORY

  • Highlights include common types of memory errors, implications for eyewitness testimony, the effects of misinformation, effects of overwriting, and various cognitive biases.

CONCLUSIONS

  • Memory is constructed from multiple elements, and noncritical information can distort other recall processes. Distortions tend to follow predictable patterns rather than being random.