Memory: Recall, Reconstruction, and Biological Bases
Memory Recall and Reconstruction
Memory Modifiability: Our memories can be altered by external influences, such as listening to other people's accounts of an event.
Schemas: These are top-level folders or frameworks in our brain that organize and interpret information. Schemas heavily influence what we pay attention to and how we interpret, encode, and remember information.
Impact on Memory Creation: Schemas can lead us to create memories of things that weren't actually present but fit our expectations. For example, many people falsely remember seeing a book in a professor's office photo because their schema dictates that professors typically have books in their offices.
Expectation vs. Reality: We often look for what we expect to see rather than what is actually there, integrating our expectations into the experience.
Source Confusion: This occurs when we forget where we heard or learned something. This phenomenon tends to worsen with age.
Example: Thinking a close friend told you about an event, only to find out they have no idea what you're talking about because a different person actually shared the information.
False Memory: Memories of events that did not actually happen.
Elizabeth Loftus's Research: Credited for extensive research in false memories, particularly her work exploring how memories can be implanted or altered within the legal system.
"Lost in the Mall" Technique: A well-known experiment by Loftus:
Participants provided three real childhood memories.
Researchers fabricated a fourth story about the participant being lost in a mall as a child, ensuring it hadn't actually happened by interviewing family members.
Participants read all four accounts multiple times over a period.
After approximately 2 months, in a final interview, 6 out of 24 participants believed they had truly been lost in the mall.
Imagination Inflation: The more vividly we imagine or think about something, placing ourselves within that hypothetical scenario, the more likely we are to believe it actually happened. Active imagination can increase the likelihood of developing false memories.
Repression and Suppression of Memories:
Repression: Pushing down unwanted or difficult memories. The memory is still known to exist but is consciously avoided.
Suppression: The idea that traumatic memories can be completely forgotten and then