Forgetting & Other Memory Challenges

Module 2.7

Myers/DeWall/Yost Hammer, Myers’ Psychology for the AP® Course, 4e ©2023 Worth/BFW Publishers

Learning Targets

• LT 2.7.1

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• LT 2.7-2

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• LT 2.7-3

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• LT 2.7-4

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Explain why we forget.

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Explain how misinformation, imagination, and source amnesia influence our memory construction, and describe how we decide whether a memory is real or false.

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Explain how you can use memory research to do better in this and other classes.

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Explain the reliability of young children’s eyewitness descriptions.

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Why do we forget?

• Forgetting can occur at any memory stage

Types of Amnesia

• ANTEROgrade Amnesia – Can’t form NEW Memories
• RETROgrade Amnesia – Can’t recall OLD memories

Memory Consolidation

• Physical process of a memory going from short-term memory to long-term memory
• If disrupted, the LTM does NOT form
• This happens in Retrograde Amnesia
• Sleep can aid in memory consolidation.

Memory Consolidation is like Jello:

• At first it is fluid and easily changed or lost
• Given time, it will harden and be laid down by the brain (long-term potentiation)

Forgetting & the Two-Tracked Mind�Anterograde Amnesia�(A Case Study)

• Patient H.M. (Henry Gustav Molaison)
• life-threatening seizures originating in temporal lobe
• surgically removed portions of temporal lobe
• Surgery was effective in reducing seizures
• BUT, had other side effects as well
• Can remember explicit memories acquired before the surgery
• e.g., old addresses, normal vocabulary
• Cannot form NEW explicit memories (Anterograde Amnesia)
• e.g., remembering the name of someone he met 30 minutes prior
• cannot name new world leaders or performers
• can recognize a picture of himself from before his surgery but not from after and doesn’t recognize himself in a mirror

Implicit Memory Remains!

• H.M. has severe explicit / declarative memory disorder (Anterograde Amnesia)

BUT

• H.M. is almost normal on procedural or implicit memory tasks including priming, classical conditioning, and learning motor skills
• When given the same procedural puzzle to solve for several days in a row, H. M. was able to solve the puzzle more quickly each day however, had no recollection of learning it.
• H.M.’s Basal Ganglia laid down the procedure in his cerebellum.

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• Click HERE for a video on H.M.
• This shows that explicit memory depends upon the Hippocampus and implicit does not.

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Try this out yourself using this Website!

Forgetting as encoding failure

Displacement - Info not encoded into LTM will be lost to make way for new information in your short-term memory

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Encoding Failures

• People fail to encode information because:
• It is unimportant to them
• It is not necessary to know the information
• A decrease in the brain’s ability to encode
• Not paying attention to information

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Demonstrating Encoding Failure

• What is the color of the top stripe of the American flag?

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• Most wooden pencils are not round. How many sides do they typically have?

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• In what hand does the Statue of Liberty hold her torch?

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Which is the real penny?

Answer

Encoding Failures

Even though you’ve seen thousands of pennies, you’ve probably never looked at one closely to encode specific features

Forgetting as Storage Failure

Decay Theories

• Memories fade away or decay gradually if unused
• Time plays critical role
• Ability to retrieve info declines with time after original encoding

Decay Theory

• Biology-based theory
• When new memory formed, it creates a memory trace
• a change in brain structure or chemistry (LTP)
• If unused, normal brain metabolic processes erode memory trace
• Ability of people to retrieve memories from long ago with retrieval cues would show this is not always true.

Hermann Ebbinghaus�The Forgetting Curve

• Studied forgetting using nonsense syllables
• Nonsense syllables are three letter combinations that look like words but are meaningless (ROH, KUF)
• Forgetting is at first rapid and then levels off over time.

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Combatting The Forgetting Curve

• OVERLEARNING/Spacing Effect
• More times he practiced a list of nonsense syllables on day 1, the fewer repetitions he required to relearn it on day 2.
• Said simply, the more time we spend learning new information, the more we retain.
• Mastery Learning helps ensure information will be available even under stress

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Forgetting as retrieval failure

• Retrieval—process of pulling out stored information from LTM
• Sometimes info IS encoded into LTM, but we can’t retrieve it

Tip of the tongue phenomenon

• TOT—involves the sensation of knowing that specific information is stored in long-term memory but being unable to retrieve it (Dumb & Dumber example)
• Can’t retrieve info that you absolutely know is stored in your LTM

Forgetting as Retrieval Failure:�Interference

Interference Theories

• “Memories interfering with memories”
• This is ALWAYS BAD for recall
• Forgetting NOT caused by mere passage of time
• Caused by one memory competing with or replacing another memory
• Two Types of Interference:

Retroactive (Backward Acting) Interference

• When a NEW memory interferes with remembering OLD information
• Example: When new phone number interferes with ability to remember old phone number
• Example: Learning a new language interferes with ability to remember �old language

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Proactive (Forward Acting) Interference

• Opposite of retroactive interference
• When an OLD memory interferes with remembering NEW information
• Example: Memories of where you parked your car on campus the past week interferes with ability find car in its new spot today
• Example: Previously learned language interferes with ability to remember newly learned language

F-

Review of Interference Theory

• Retroactive Interference (Backward Acting)
• First Learn A, Then Learn B Recall A, B interferes

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• Proactive Interference (Forward Acting)
• First Learn A, Then Learn B Recall B, A interferes

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• Retro & Pro refer to what you want to remember.
• Interference reflects competition between responses.

How to Combat Interference

• Study an hour before sleep and then minimize your exposure to new info.
• Studying as you fall asleep though is NOT helpful.

Motivated Forgetting

Undesired memory is held back from awareness

• Suppression—conscious forgetting
• Repression—unconscious forgetting (Freudian)
• Part of Freud’s psychoanalysis
• Process of moving anxiety-producing memories to the unconscious
• Supposed means of protecting oneself from painful memories
• Not well-supported by research; stressful incidents are actually more likely to be encoded

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Memory Construction�“To Some Degree All Memory is False”�“The fewer times you use memory, the more pristine it is.”

Memory Jigsaw Analogy

• Memories, rather than being like a video tape, are formed as bits and pieces.
• People may retrieve only some of the pieces of the memory
• Brain fills in the gaps for you like it does for our blind spot
• Reconsolidation – Memories are constantly being reconstructed & modified so they are never entirely accurate.

Reconstructing Memories: �Sources of Potential Errors – �Why the details change over time

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• Two general areas that errors occur in memory reconstruction
1. Info stored before the memory occurred may interfere
2. Info stored after the memory occurred may interfere

Elizabeth Loftus �(1944- )

• Does research in memory construction
• Has found that subjects’ memories vary based on the wording of questions
• Demonstrated the misinformation effect

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Misinformation Effect

• Incorporating misleading information into one’s memory of an event
• Affects eyewitness testimony

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Elizabeth Loftis explains her experiments on Misinformation/attribution effect. (3 min)

Loftus Experiment

• Subjects shown video of an accident between two cars
• Subject groups asked…
• How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?
• How fast were the cars going when they hit each other?
• How fast were the cars going when they contacted each other?

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• Watch this study explained 1:20-5:35 (4 min)

Loftus Results

Memory Distortion

• Memory can be distorted as people try to fit new info into existing schemas (mental representations of what we think the world is like)
• Giving misleading information after an event causes subjects to unknowingly distort their memories to incorporate the new misleading information
• Can our political beliefs distort our memory?

How?

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MISINFORMATION

• As Memory fades with time following an event, the injection of misinformation becomes easier.
• Misinformation Effect: Incorporating misleading information into one’s memory of an event
• Imagination Inflation – people report richer details of their false memories or embellish on previous memories.

Types of Potential Errors

• False Memory – distorted and inaccurate memory that feels completely real and is often accompanied by all the emotional impact of a real memory.
• Source Confusion/Amnesia – true source of the memory (how, when, & where it was acquired) is forgotten.
• Something you’ve heard or seen in a film or book is confused with something that really happened to you
• Déjà vu – “already seen” something seems familiar but you’re unsure where you’ve encountered it before.

Eyewitness Testimony

• Recall not an exact replica of original events
• What you recall is a construction built and rebuilt from various sources
• Often fit memories into existing beliefs, biases or schemas
• Schema - mental representation of an object, scene or event
• Example: schema of a countryside may include green grass, hills, farms, a barn, cows, etc.
• What’s your schema for a criminal/psychopath?

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BOTH of these guys were serial killers!

Factors that Influence Memory

Memory Construction:�Children’s Recall

Children’s Testimony on Abuse

• Research has shown children’s testimony to be unreliable
• Children are very open to suggestions
• As children mature their memories improve
• “Doctor’s Visit” study – children misremembered 55% of the time when later questioned.
• “Mousetrap on Your Finger” study – After being asked this several times, 10 weeks later, 58% of preschoolers had false vivid memories of it happening.
• See examples from Frontline Documentary

Accurate Interviewing Methods

• To promote accuracy with children’s testimony the interviewer should:
• Interviewer is a neutral person they don’t know
• Phrase questions in a way the child can understand
• Use neutral language and do not lead or suggest answers

Improving Memory

• Rehearse repeatedly, using distributed practice to benefit from the spacing effect.

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• Make material meaningful to you, personalized to create better retrieval cues and make more associations.

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• Activate retrieval cues by using your context-dependent and state-dependent memories. Mentally replicate the environment and mood in which you originally learned the information.
• Use mnemonic devices such as narratives or acronyms to help you store large amounts of information to be more easily retrieved later.

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• Minimize interference, both proactive and retroactive. Schedule your study topics to create a better balance.

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• Sleep more, as REM sleep helps with consolidation of memories.

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• Test your recall, to both rehearse as well as create stronger memories.