MemoryWhat is Memory?- Ability to store & retrieve information over time- 3 Key functionso Encodingo Storageo Retrieval- Memory consists of 3 major components- Pg. 228o Sensory Memory Memory for sensory info that is stored in its sensory form for a few seconds or less- Visual sensory memory: Iconic memory (1s or less)- Auditory sensory memory: Echoic memory (5s or less)o Short-term Memory Memory for information that stays I awareness for more than a few seconds, but less than a minute Memory Span- Amount of information that can be stored in STM- 7 +/- 2 items Rehearsing vs. Chunking- Rehearsing: repeating info to yourself to remember it- Chunking: grouping information togethero Generally more effective than rehearsalo Long-term memory Memory for information that can be retrieved (sometimes, even decades) later Pg. 238 Recency effect- remember things from the end (most recent) Primary effect- remembering things from the beginning Problems with Longterm memory-Amnesia: Severe memory impairment- Retrograde Amnesia: The inability to retrieve information that was acquired before a particular date- Anterograde amnesia: the inability to transfer new information from the short-term to the long-term store Clive Wearing video- Massive deficit in episodic memory- Also unusually bad retrograde amnesia (can’t remember children’s names)- His improvement over time indicates that he can form newimplicit memories Hippocampus as index- Memories are not “stored’ In any one location in the braino Lashley and the search for the “engram”- The sights, sounds, emotional contents of memories are distributed throughout the cortex- The hippocampus links them all together to form a single, coherent memory Eventually, memories are consolidated (they become stable)- Then the hippocampus is not as necessary (like a recipe)- Patient H.M. – Severe anterograde but not retrograde amnesia- Hippocampus critical when forming a new memory, less important as the memory ageso Retrieval cues External information that helps us access info from LTM Encoding specificity principle: Retrieval cues that recreate the way we initially encoded the info help us remember it - SCUBA study- When you study underwater you remember better underwater… etc…’ State- dependent retrieval: Our memory is better when we’re in the same mental state during encoding retrieval- Ex: Mood, sobriety- A subtype of the encoding specificity principle- Study matching study patterns to test conditionso Self reference effect People remember info that is self-relevant better than info that is not The reason seems to be that people process self-relevant information more deeply- Ex: horoscopeso Priming The enhanced ability to think of a stimulus, such as a word or object, as a result of a recent exposure to the stimulus Exposure to “avocado, climate octopus, assassin” Fill in the o Schemas Cognitive structures that help us organize information Web outline* We remember schema-consistent info and forget schema-inconsistent infoPsychology and Law (October 2, 2012)Eyewitness Memory- 1996 Department of Justice Examination of DNA Exoneration caseso 28 cases 9 months – 12 years in prisono Some involved alibis from friends/familyo All involved an eyewitness- Compelling- Responsible for most wrongful convictions than any other reason (Wells, 1998)- (Loftus, 1982) of 347 cases in which eyewitness was only substantial evidence:o 74% (~256 cases) led to conviction 49% (~125 cases) one eyewitness- Why are eyewitnesses often wrong?- Errors possible at all 3 stages of memory processing (encoding, storage, retrieval)A. Suggestibilitya. Incorporating misleading or false information from external sources into personal recollectionsb. Memory is reconstructivei. We feel like our memories are accurate, but they’re notc. Plane crash in Amsterdam: “did you see the television film of the moment the plane hit the apartment building?”B. Memory Misattributiona. Assigning a recollection or an idea to the wrong sourceb. David Thomson – memory researcher accused of rapei. The victim was watching him on TV at the time that the assaultoccurredii. Her memory confused his face with her attacker’sC. False Recognitiona. Typical suspect lineupi. Eyewitnesses are encouraged to rely on familiarityii. People tend to use “relative” judgments – who looks the most like the suspect iii. Most common cause of wrongful convictionsb. Line up Choice study i. N = 100 College Students1. Viewed staged vandalismii. IV1: biased or unbiased instructionsiii. IV2: Suspect actually present or not presentiv. DV: # of identification errors, confidence1. Results:a. Errors were low when the suspect was present, regardless of how biased the instructions wereb. When suspect was absent, false identifications were very high only in the biased conditionc. Unbiased instructions led to fewer false identifications, with no decrease in correct ID’sd. Confidence was significantly correlated with choosing (r.86)i. But not with accuracyv. How should the police actually conduct lineups?1. All should be similar to real suspect2. Include “blank” lineups with no real suspect3. Instructions: Offender not necessarily in lineup4. Sequential instead of simultaneous lineup5. Photographs + Voice Samples6. Double blind lineups 7. No composite creations8. Don’t rely on witnesses to know if they are biasedvi. Are these suggested changes being incorportated?1. Yes, but slowly.2. Standard eyewitness procedures, including questioningtechniques & lineup procedures are still the most commonly used. - Repressed/ False Memorieso The repressed memory controversy Can false memories exist for profound life events?o Mousetrap study Asked children once a week for 10 weeks:- “think real hard about going to the hospital with a mousetrap on your finger” 58% of kids falsely remembered the event and created a detailed story of the event.  Wo Well-meaning but misguided therapists can instill false memories Encouraging clients to imagine incidents that may or may not haveoccurred Using Hypnosiso When people are no longer exposed to suggestive techniques, they start to recognize the memories as inaccurate.- False Confessionso Extremely common, and it can happen to anyone Broken key study:- Participants were falsely accused of damaging a