PSYCH 147 REVIEWER MEMORY FOR ‘EXCEPTIONAL’ EVENTS’
CHAPTER 8: EVERYDAY MEMORY AND MEMORY ERRORS Memory and Emotion
-What is special about A.J. is that her exceptional memory is -Emotions are often associated with events that are more easily
for personal experiences— things that make up what is called remembered. Personal events, such as beginning or ending
autobiographical memory. relationships, or events experienced by many people
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMORY: WHAT HAS HAPPENED IN simultaneously, like the 9/11 terrorist attacks, seem to be
MY LIFE? remembered more easily and vividly than less emotionally
Autobiographical memory (AM)- recollected events that charged events.
belong to a person’s past -It appears, therefore, that emotions may trigger mechanisms in
The Multidimensional Nature of AM the amygdala that help us remember events that are
Autobiographical memories- are multidimensional because associated with the emotions.
they consist of spatial, emotional, and sensory components. Flashbulb Memories
-The memory of patients who have suffered brain damage that flashbulb memory- a person’s memory for the circumstances
causes a loss of visual memory, but without causing blindness, surrounding hearing about shocking, highly charged events;
illustrates the importance of the sensory component of AM refers to memory for the circumstances surrounding how a
-Apparently, visual experience plays an important role in person heard about an event, not memory for the event itself
forming autobiographical memories repeated recall- technique of comparing later memories to
-The brain scans showed that A-photos and L-photos activated memories collected immediately after the event
many of the same structures in the brain—mainly ones like the -people’s memories for how they heard about flashbulb events
MTL that are associated with episodic memory, as well as an change over time
area in the parietal cortex that is involved in processing -flashbulb memories are special appears to be based at least
scenes partially on the fact that people think the memories are stronger
-the A-photos also activated regions associated with and more accurate; however, this study found that in reality
processing information about the self, with memory for visual there was little or no difference between flashbulb and everyday
space, and with recollection memories in terms of the amount remembered and the
-Autobiographical memories can also elicit emotions, which accuracy of what is remembered
activates another area of the brain (which we will describe narrative rehearsal hypothesis- we may remember events like
shortly) called the amygdala. those that happened on 9/11 not because of a special
Memory Over the Life Span mechanism, but because we rehearse these events after they
-Personal milestones such as graduating from college or occur
receiving a marriage proposal stand out, as do highly emo- THE CONSTRUCTIVE NATURE OF MEMORY
tional events such as surviving a car accident constructive nature of memory—what people report as
-Transition points in people’s lives appear to be particularly memories are constructed by the person based on what
memorable. actually happened plus additional factors, such as the person’s
reminiscence bump- enhanced memory for adolescence and knowledge, experiences, and expectations.
young adulthood found in people over 40 -This approach to memory is called constructive because the
mind constructs memories based on a number of sources of
information
Barlett’s ‘War of the Ghosts’ Experiment
-After his participants read this story, Bartlett asked them to
recall it as accurately as possible. He then used the technique
of repeated reproduction, in which the same participants
came back a number of times to try to remember the story at
longer and longer intervals after they first read it.
-One way to think about what happened in Bartlett’s
experiment is that his participants created their memories from
two sources. One source was the original story, and the other
Self-image hypothesis- memory is enhanced for events that
was what they knew about stories in their own culture. As time
occur as a person’s self-image or life identity is being formed passed, the participants used information from both sources
-Development of the self-image therefore brings with it -This idea that memories can be influenced by the sources of
numerous memorable events, most of which happen during information involves a phenomenon called source monitoring,
adolescence or young adulthood which is at the heart of the constructive approach to memory
cognitive hypothesis- proposes that periods of rapid change Source Monitoring and Source Monitoring Errors
that are followed by stability cause stronger encoding of Source monitoring- the process of determining the origins of
memories our memories, knowledge, or beliefs
-Adolescence and young adulthood t this description because source monitoring error— misidentifying the source of a
the rapid changes that occur during these periods are followed memory.
by the relative stability of adult life -Source monitoring errors are also called source
cultural life script hypothesis- This explanation distinguishes misattributions because the memory is attributed to the wrong
between a person’s life story, which is all of the events that source
have occurred in a person’s life, and a cultural life script, cryptomnesia- unconscious plagiarism of the work of others
which are culturally expected events that occur at a particular (song of Harrison)
time in the left span.
CHAPTER 8: EVERYDAY MEMORY AND MEMORY ERRORS Memory and Emotion
-What is special about A.J. is that her exceptional memory is -Emotions are often associated with events that are more easily
for personal experiences— things that make up what is called remembered. Personal events, such as beginning or ending
autobiographical memory. relationships, or events experienced by many people
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMORY: WHAT HAS HAPPENED IN simultaneously, like the 9/11 terrorist attacks, seem to be
MY LIFE? remembered more easily and vividly than less emotionally
Autobiographical memory (AM)- recollected events that charged events.
belong to a person’s past -It appears, therefore, that emotions may trigger mechanisms in
The Multidimensional Nature of AM the amygdala that help us remember events that are
Autobiographical memories- are multidimensional because associated with the emotions.
they consist of spatial, emotional, and sensory components. Flashbulb Memories
-The memory of patients who have suffered brain damage that flashbulb memory- a person’s memory for the circumstances
causes a loss of visual memory, but without causing blindness, surrounding hearing about shocking, highly charged events;
illustrates the importance of the sensory component of AM refers to memory for the circumstances surrounding how a
-Apparently, visual experience plays an important role in person heard about an event, not memory for the event itself
forming autobiographical memories repeated recall- technique of comparing later memories to
-The brain scans showed that A-photos and L-photos activated memories collected immediately after the event
many of the same structures in the brain—mainly ones like the -people’s memories for how they heard about flashbulb events
MTL that are associated with episodic memory, as well as an change over time
area in the parietal cortex that is involved in processing -flashbulb memories are special appears to be based at least
scenes partially on the fact that people think the memories are stronger
-the A-photos also activated regions associated with and more accurate; however, this study found that in reality
processing information about the self, with memory for visual there was little or no difference between flashbulb and everyday
space, and with recollection memories in terms of the amount remembered and the
-Autobiographical memories can also elicit emotions, which accuracy of what is remembered
activates another area of the brain (which we will describe narrative rehearsal hypothesis- we may remember events like
shortly) called the amygdala. those that happened on 9/11 not because of a special
Memory Over the Life Span mechanism, but because we rehearse these events after they
-Personal milestones such as graduating from college or occur
receiving a marriage proposal stand out, as do highly emo- THE CONSTRUCTIVE NATURE OF MEMORY
tional events such as surviving a car accident constructive nature of memory—what people report as
-Transition points in people’s lives appear to be particularly memories are constructed by the person based on what
memorable. actually happened plus additional factors, such as the person’s
reminiscence bump- enhanced memory for adolescence and knowledge, experiences, and expectations.
young adulthood found in people over 40 -This approach to memory is called constructive because the
mind constructs memories based on a number of sources of
information
Barlett’s ‘War of the Ghosts’ Experiment
-After his participants read this story, Bartlett asked them to
recall it as accurately as possible. He then used the technique
of repeated reproduction, in which the same participants
came back a number of times to try to remember the story at
longer and longer intervals after they first read it.
-One way to think about what happened in Bartlett’s
experiment is that his participants created their memories from
two sources. One source was the original story, and the other
Self-image hypothesis- memory is enhanced for events that
was what they knew about stories in their own culture. As time
occur as a person’s self-image or life identity is being formed passed, the participants used information from both sources
-Development of the self-image therefore brings with it -This idea that memories can be influenced by the sources of
numerous memorable events, most of which happen during information involves a phenomenon called source monitoring,
adolescence or young adulthood which is at the heart of the constructive approach to memory
cognitive hypothesis- proposes that periods of rapid change Source Monitoring and Source Monitoring Errors
that are followed by stability cause stronger encoding of Source monitoring- the process of determining the origins of
memories our memories, knowledge, or beliefs
-Adolescence and young adulthood t this description because source monitoring error— misidentifying the source of a
the rapid changes that occur during these periods are followed memory.
by the relative stability of adult life -Source monitoring errors are also called source
cultural life script hypothesis- This explanation distinguishes misattributions because the memory is attributed to the wrong
between a person’s life story, which is all of the events that source
have occurred in a person’s life, and a cultural life script, cryptomnesia- unconscious plagiarism of the work of others
which are culturally expected events that occur at a particular (song of Harrison)
time in the left span.
