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Reconstructive Memory
Criteria B
● According to the reconstructive memory theory, memory is an active process which involves reconstructing information. ● Studies have shown that the retrieval of information depends on schemas. Thus, memory can be distorted because we use schemas to fill in the gaps of our memory. ● Leading questions are questions that prompt a desired answer in the participants. They are relevant in interrogation by police and in the courtroom. ● Loftus (a psychologist) believed that leading questions influenced the reconstruction of memory. This is called misinformation effect. ○ Eyewitnesses may fill in the gaps with schemas such as stereotypes as a result of the leading questions. These have damaging consequences. ● An example is Ronald Cotton who was wrongly sentenced to 11 years in prison for rape when the victim (the eyewitness) claimed he was the rapist. It was only after a DNA test that he was released.
Criteria C
Study #1: Loftus & Palmer (1974)
Experiment 1
Aim
To investigate whether memory was influenced by leading questions, specifically in the estimation of speed of cars in an accident.
Procedure
- Students were shown film recordings of traffic accidents and had to answer a questionnaire about the accident.
- There was one critical question in which the students were asked how fast the car was going during the accident. The word “accident” was changed to varying degrees of intensity for e.g. “hit”, “collided”, “smashed”. a. Different words were used because they have different connotations which trigger different schemas.
Findings/Results
● The critical question where the words had a more intense connotation had a higher estimate of speed. ● This is interesting because the participants all watched the same film.
Conclusion
● The researchers concluded that there were two interpretations of the findings. ● Response bias: Using a verb with higher intensity such as “smashed” biases the response to a higher estimate. ● Memory change: The question may have caused the participant’s memory representation to change. ○ For e.g. verb of higher intensity such as “smashed” may have caused the subject to remember the memory as being more severe than it really was. ● To choose between these conclusions, a follow-up study was done.
Experiment 2
Aim
To investigate whether response bias or memory change was responsible for memory distortion.
Procedure
- Students had to watch a film with multiple-car accidents. Then they had to answer a questionnaire which had the critical question from experiment 1.
- Students were allocated into one of three groups: “smashed into each other”, “hit each other” and a control group which wasn’t asked the question.
- One week later, the participants had to complete another questionnaire without watching the film. a. The critical question here was whether there had been any broken glass.
Findings/Results
● The more intense the verb, the more likely it was that the participant answered “yes” to the broken glass question.
Conclusion
● Concluded that there was actually a change in memory. ● They suggested that memory was influenced by their perception of the event AND post-event information.
Procedure
- In Vancouver, a thief had shot the owner of a shop. There were eyewitnesses there.
- Four months after the event, the eyewitnesses were called in for the study. They had to answer questions.
- There were two leading questions. Half were asked if there was a yellow panel on the getaway car. The other half, whether there was a broken headlight on the car.
Findings/Results
● The majority of the eyewitnesses answered the leading questions correctly (or said they didn’t recall those details). ● The eyewitnesses were quite reliable and accurate in their answers.
Conclusion
● The research contradicts Loftus and Palmer’s findings. ● The eyewitnesses weren’t influenced by the leading questions. ● However, the eyewitnesses associated a lot of emotion with this event which may have helped with the accuracy of the memory.
Criteria D
Evaluation of study
High ecological validity ● It was a field study therefore the setting wasn’t artificial. ● It was a real-life situation so better captured people’s behaviour.
Low reliability ● Since it was a field study, there were no standardised instructions. ● The study can’t be replicated and thus, isn’t generalisable.
Purpose sample ● There was a purposive sample. ● Only eyewitnesses were used. This means that the results will be relevant towards the study and there won’t be false data.
Archival evidence ● There was archival evidence to confirm the participants’ accounts.
Uncontrolled variables ● There were extraneous variables which couldn’t be manipulated or kept track of by the researchers. ● For instance, we don’t know how much research the participants did prior to answering the questions.
Flashbulb memory? ● Was this a case of flashbulb memory? If yes, it can’t be compared to Loftus and Palmer’s study which didn’t at all look at the impact of emotion.
Researcher bias ● While converting the qualitative data to quantitative, there may have been researcher bias where the data was manipulated to disprove the theory.
Criteria C
Study #3: Bahrick et al. (1975)
Aim
To investigate the reliability of autobiographical memory over time specifically names and faces of people.
Procedure
- Participants were aged 17-74. Some participants had been out of high school for only 2 weeks.
- They had to do several tests which involved remembering their classmates.
Findings/Results
● Participants within 15 years of graduation were 90% accurate in recalling names and faces. ● After 48 years they were accurate 80% for identifying names and 70% in identifying faces. ● Free recall was worse. After 15 years it was 60% and after 48 years it was 30% accurate.
Conclusion
● Our recognition is better than recollection. This means we are better at recognising faces rather than remembering names. ● Also, our memories are highly reliable over time.
