Preview p.20

• Could you be an impartial jury member in a trial of a parent accused of sexual abuse based on a recovered memory?

• Or of a therapist being sued for creating a false memory of abuse?

Memorypp. 380 -393

Objective 22: What is Freud’s concept of

repression? Is repression reflected in

current memory research?• To remember our past is to revise it

• Repression: in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feeling, and emotions.• We repress painful memories• “memories for painful experiences are sometimes

pushed into the unconscious”

• Memory researchers disagree with Freud

• Suppression: when we consciously forget information

Objective 23: How do misinformation and

imagination distort our memory of an event?

• (Loftus & Palmer, 1974)

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP8kJ5A5xU8

Objective 23: How do misinformation and

imagination distort our memory of an event?

• Misinformation effect: incorporating misleading information into one’s memory of an event.

• As memory fades with time following an event, the injection of misinformation becomes easier.• Fill in gaps with guesses and

assumptions

Objective 23: How do misinformation and

imagination distort our memory of an event?

• Imagining nonexistent actions can create false memories

• The more vividly people can imagine things, the more likely they are to inflate their imaginations into memories (Loftus, 2001)

Objective 24: How does source

amnesia contribute to false memories?

• Source amnesia: attributing an event to the wrong source (source misattribution)• We remember the experience, story,

tweet, day dream, but do not remember where it came from

Objective 25: What are some differences and

similarities between true and false memories?

• True Memories• Greater detail• Self-assured• “Maturation makes

liars of us all”• Ask less

suggestive, more effective questions

• “Visualize the scene” activates retrieval

• *cognitive interview

• False Memories • Restricted to

meanings and feelings

• Memory construction

• Self-assured

Objective 26: Are young children’s

reports of abuse reliable?

• Yes• Neutral wording

leads to accurate recall

• Neutral interviewer

• No• Leading questions

plant false memories

• Suggestible

Objective 27: Can memories of

childhood sexual abuse be

repressed or recovered?• Are clinicians who have guided people

in “recovering” memories of childhood abuse triggering false memories that damage innocent adults, or are they uncovering the truth?

• Hypnosis or drugs are unreliable retrieval cues

• Memories before the age of 3 are unreliable

Objective 27: Can memories of

childhood sexual abuse be

repressed or recovered?• Loftus et al. (1996)

• Implanted false memories in children such as being lost for an extended time, almost drowning, and vicious animal attack

• For the most part, highly emotional memories are very likely to be remembered rather than repressed

Lost in a Shopping Mall

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQr_IJvYzbA

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hER-5mdIoN0

Objective 28: How can memory

contribute to effective study

techniques?• Study repeatedly to boost long-term recall

• Spend time rehearsing or actively thinking about material

• Make the material personally meaningful

• Mnemonic devices-peg words

• Activate retrieval cues

• Recall events before misinformation

• Minimize interference

• Test your knowledge

Process p.20

1. Formulate one hypothesis that might explain how a real, traumatic, and previously forgotten event could suddenly be remembered.

2. Formulate one hypothesis to explain how people could remember something that never really happened.

3. Describe one strategy that might help distinguish between real and false memories.

Addendums to Chapter 9

• Objective 4: 2 types of rehearsal• Maintenance rehearsal: recitation of

information over and over• Elaborative rehearsal: application of

personal meaning and understanding to ensure that information is encoded into LTM

• Objective 13: 2 types of explicit memory• Episodic memory: personal memories• Semantic information: general knowledge

about your environment

• Objective 13: 2 types of amnesia• Retrograde amnesia: inability to

remember events from the past, specifically episodic memories

• Anterograde amnesia: inability to form new memories