Cognitive Psychology, 2nd Ed.

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Cognitive Psychology, 2nd Ed.

• Chapter 7

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Reconstructive Retrieval

• Refers to schema-guided construction of episodic
  memories that alter and distort encoded memory
  representations.
• Reconstruction levels by losing details,
  assimilates by normalizing to fit expectations,
  and sharpens by embellishing details.

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Encoding Distortions

• Selection Selective encoding of information
  that fits with prior knowledge.
• Interpretation Inferences and suppositions are
  made to conform new material to activated
  schemas.
• Integration Combining features of different
  events into a unified memory representation.

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Source Monitoring

• Source monitoring refers to evaluative processes
  that attribute mental experiences to either
  external (perceived) or internal (thought,
  imagined, or dreamed) sources.
• Discriminating internal from external sources is
  essential to avoid false memories of events.

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False Memories

• Verbal false memories occur when a list of
  semantically related words are perceived. A high
  associate of these words is often falsely
  remembered.
• Conjunction errors occur when part of a word is
  falsely linked to a part of another word.
• Confabulation involves a false narrative account
  of autobiographical events and is seen in severe
  pathological states of confusion.

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Eyewitness Testimony

• How is the recall of an eyewitness affected by
  reconstructive retrieval processes? Even when
  witnesses are confident of the accuracy of their
  testimony, false recall can cause distortions.
• Approximately 8,500 wrongful convictions in the
  U.S. alone, with as many as half caused by
  incorrect eyewitness testimony.

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Causes of False Testimony

• Selective encoding due to perceptual factors
  (poor visibility, rapid and unexpected events).
• Peripheral details, but not central features, are
  lost are under emotional duress.

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Causes of False Testimony

• Misinformation in the form of questions asked of
  an eyewitness after an event can distort its
  recognition and recall. When questioned after a
  traffic accident, the verb used to describe the
  collision(contacted, hit, bumped, collided,
  smashed) determined speed estimates.
• Misinformation effects can be large. Poorly
  encoded details (e.g., was a stop sign or a yield
  sign?) are falsely recognized 80 of the time two
  weeks after receiving misleading information.

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Causes of False Testimony

• Memory implantation refers to the creation of a
  false memory through direct suggestion.
• Preschool aged children are more susceptible than
  older children and adults. Debate centers on
  whether only unimportant details are implanted or
  important events with possible clinical
  implications.
• Delusional false memories reflect socio-cultural
  implantation. Beliefs create an illusion of an
  event having actually occurred.

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Alternative Explanations of Recovered Memories

• Repression a defense mechanism that operates
  unconsciously to prevent conscious recollection
  of disturbing events.
• Trauma-induced amnesia a dissociation of
  consciousness during the experience that produces
  selective encoding.
• False recollection Through misinformation,
  implantation, or confabulation the recovered
  memory never really happened.

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Causes of False Testimony

• Faces are encoded by a specialized module and
  well retained across decades.
• However, attending to a weapon instead can cause
  errors due to selective encoding.
• Lineups must include lures similar to the target
  to avoid false recognition. Sequential rather
  than simultaneous lineups also reduce false
  recognition.
• Face identification is poorest across racial and
  ethnic categories.

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