Formation of false memories

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AS Level Psychology (Loftus and Pickrell - False memories) Mind Map on Formation of false memories, created by nasreen_946_ on 14/04/2014.
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Mind Map by nasreen_946_, updated more than 1 year ago
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Created by nasreen_946_ about 10 years ago
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Resource summary

Formation of false memories
  1. Memory?
    1. Memory is your mind's storehouse, the reservoir of your accumulated learning. The persistence of learning over time is through storage and retrieval.

      Annotations:

      • Retroactive interference : It occurs when new learning or new information interferes with you ability to recall what you learned earlier.
    2. AIM
      1. 1. To understand how we get tricked (memory distortion) by revised data about a witnessed event
        1. 2. Can a false memory be implanted?
        2. SAMPLE
          1. 24 participants - (3M, 21F) recruited by the university of Washington students
            1. A pair of individuals - subject and subjects relative (who had knowledge about the childhood events of the subject)
            2. MATERIAL
              1. 5 page booklet - cover letter with instructions for completing the booklet and schedule for interviews
                1. 4 SHORT STORIES - 3 true events (provided by the relative) and 1 false event about child getting lost. Single Paragraphs about each event , remaining pages blank for Participants to reproduce memory
                  1. ORDER OF EVENTS WAS SAME - False event always on 3rd position
              2. PROCEDURE
                1. SUBJECT'S RELATIVE was interviewed to obtain 3 events that happened to the subject between 4 to 6 years of age. NOT TO BE FAMILY FOLKLORE OR TRAUMATIC EVENTS. information about a plausible shopping trip was obtained (where they usually shpped when subject was 5 yrs old, who went along, which store attracted the subject's attention and verification that subject was not lost in a mall at the age of 5)
                  1. Features of the false event : 1. lost for an extended period, 2. Crying, 3. lost in a mall at the age of 5, 4. found and aided by an elderly woman, 5. reunited with family.
                  2. Subject told the study is about childhood memories and how and why people remember some and not others
                    1. Told to read and write anything they remember about each event - if not remembered write "i dont remember this", booklet mailed back
                      1. SUBJECTS CALLED AND SCHEDULED FOR 2 INTERVIEWS

                        Annotations:

                        • 1st interview - 1 or 2 weeks after the reciept of the booklet 2nd interview- 1 or 2 weeks after the 1st interview interviewers - 2 females
                        1. 1ST INTERVIEW - REMINDED OF EACH EVENT, ASKED TO RECALL AS MUCH AS THEY COULD. 2. Rated their clarity on a scale of 1-10, 3. Rated their confidence on a 5 point scale, that if given more time they would remember. Same for 2nd interview
                          1. After the 2nd interview - DEBRIEFED AND ASKED TO CHOOSE WHICH OF THE 4 EVENTS WAS FALSE.
                  3. RESULTS
                    1. MEMORY FOR EVENTS
                      1. TRUE EVENTS - 49/ 72 (68%) were remembered in the booklet, constant for 1st and 2nd interview
                        1. FALSE EVENT - 7/24 partially or fully remembered, in the 1st interview it dropped to 6/24, which was held constant in the 2nd interview
                        2. Number of words used to describe memories
                          1. True memories - 138.0
                            1. False memory - 49.9
                            2. Clarity ratings for events
                              1. True events - 6.3 (constant for both interviews)
                                1. False event - 2.8 in 1st interview, 3.6 in 2nd interview
                                2. Confidence ratings for events
                                  1. True events - 2.7 in 1st interview, 2.2 in 2nd
                                    1. False event - 1.8 in 1st interview, 1.4 in 2nd
                                    2. when asked to choose false event after debriefing
                                      1. 19/24 correctly chose the false event as getting lost
                                    3. CONCLUSION
                                      1. 1. People can be lead to believe entire events happen to them after suggestions to that effect - existance proof for the phenomenon of false memory information. 2. Memory can be altered via suggestion . 3.
                                      2. Advantages and Disadvantages
                                        1. 1.Experiment - High level of control, standardized procedures for all participants. 2. Ecological validity is high - False event made believable, cannot be easily identified (little chance of demand characteristics) and all memories were real world scenarios 3. Interview - quantitative and qualitative data - objective and rich data obtained. 4. Ethics - debriefing and confidentiality. 5.Usefulness and Application.
                                          1. Usefulness and Application
                                          2. 1. Sample - unrepresentative. 2.False memory was a common situation, participants could have been recalling that memory. 3. Ethics - Deception and there could have been harm done to the participants (mentally). 4.Questionnaire - could be untruthful and call relatives to verify.
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