Matlin Cognition Long Term Memory

							       Cognition
          Chapter 5

Long-Term Memory




  Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin   Chapter 5
                 Introduction

episodic memory—your memories for events that
happened to you; specific time and place
semantic memory—organized knowledge about the
world
procedural memory—knowledge about how to do
something




         Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin   Chapter 5
                 Introduction

encoding—initial acquisition of information
retrieval—locating information in storage and
accessing that information
autobiographical memory—memory for events and
topics related to your own everyday life




         Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin   Chapter 5
           Levels of processing

Elaboration and distinctiveness

Self reference effect




             Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin   Chapter 5
          Encoding in Long-Term
                 Memory
Levels of Processing
  Levels of Processing and the Self-Reference
  Effect
     Participants' failure to follow instructions
        Foley and coauthors (1999)
            compare different types of mental image
            instructions vs. what students actually used




                Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin              Chapter 5
Participants Failure to
 Follow Instructions




 Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin   Chapter 5
          Encoding in Long-Term
                 Memory
The Effects of Context: Encoding
Specificity
    encoding specificity principle—recall is better if the
    retrieval context is similar to the encoding context




               Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin       Chapter 5
          Encoding in Long-Term
                 Memory
The Effects of Context: Encoding
Specificity
  Research on Encoding Specificity
    Marian and Fausey (2006)—read stories in English
    and Spanish; questions about the stories in matched
    or mismatched languages




              Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin      Chapter 5
Encoding Specificity




Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin   Chapter 5
          Encoding in Long-Term
                 Memory
The Effects of Context: Encoding
Specificity
  Levels of Processing and Encoding
  Specificity
    similarity between encoding and retrieval conditions
    encoding specificity can override levels of processing
    To determine how to store some information, you'll
    need to figure out the characteristics of the retrieval
    task = transfer appropriate processing


               Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin        Chapter 5
          Encoding in Long-Term
                 Memory
Emotions, Mood, and Memory
  Memory for Items Differing in Emotion
    Pollyanna Principle
    1. More accurate recall for pleasant items
         Matlin & Stang (1978); Balch (2006)
         learn lists of words—pleasant, neutral, unpleasant
         recall after delay
         pleasant items recalled significantly more accurately than
           unpleasant items; neutral items recalled least accurately




                Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin               Chapter 5
          Encoding in Long-Term
                 Memory
Emotions, Mood, and Memory
  Memory for Items Differing in Emotion
    2. More accurate recall for neutral stimuli associated
       with pleasant stimuli
         Bushman (1998)—media violence and commercials




               Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin        Chapter 5
          Encoding in Long-Term
                 Memory
Emotions, Mood, and Memory
  Memory for Items Differing in Emotion
    3. Over time, unpleasant memories fade faster
        Walker and coauthors (1997)
        personal events recorded and rated for pleasantness and
           intensity
        positivity effect—people tend to rate past events more
           positively with the passage of time




               Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin            Chapter 5
          Encoding in Long-Term
                 Memory
Emotions, Mood, and Memory
  Mood Congruence
    mood congruence—you recall material more
    accurately if it is congruent with your current mood

    Murray and colleagues (1999)—tendency towards
    depression and recall of positive/negative trait words




               Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin        Chapter 5
Mood Congruence




Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin   Chapter 5
           Retrieval in Long-Term
                  Memory
Explicit Versus Implicit Memory Tasks

    Explicit Memory Tasks
     recall
     recognition




                   Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin   Chapter 5
           Retrieval in Long-Term
                  Memory
Explicit Versus Implicit Memory Tasks
    Implicit Memory Tasks—task does not directly ask
    for either recall or recognition; shows the effects of
    previous experience when we are not making a
    conscious effort to remember
       word completion
       repetition priming—recent exposure to a word increases
       the likelihood that you'll think of this particular word, when
       you are given a cue that could evoke many different words




                 Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin                Chapter 5
           Retrieval in Long-Term
                  Memory
Explicit Versus Implicit Memory Tasks
  Research with Normal Adults
    material not remembered on explicit memory task may
    be remembered when tested on an implicit memory
    task

    anesthesia studies
    dissociation
      levels of processing and explicit/implicit memory tasks



                Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin               Chapter 5
          Retrieval in Long-Term
                 Memory
Individuals with Amnesia
  amnesia
  retrograde amnesia—loss of memory for events
     that occurred prior to brain damage
  anterograde amnesia—loss of memory for
     events that have occurred after brain damage




              Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin   Chapter 5
           Retrieval in Long-Term
                  Memory
Individuals with Amnesia
  hippocampus—H.M.
  Warrington and Weiskrantz (1970)
    presented English words to individuals with
       anterograde amnesia and controls
    tested with explicit and implicit memory tasks
    dissociation




               Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin         Chapter 5
            Retrieval in Long-Term
                   Memory
Expertise
  The Context-Specific Nature of Expertise
    • strong positive correlation between knowledge
      about an area and memory performance in that
      area
    • more accurate than nonexperts in both recognition
      and recall
    • no difference in general memory skills or
      intelligence


              Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin      Chapter 5
            Retrieval in Long-Term
                   Memory
Expertise
  How Do Experts and Novices Differ?
    1. Experts possess a well-organized, carefully
       learned knowledge structure, which assists them
       during both encoding and retrieval.
    2. Experts are more likely to reorganize the new
       material they must recall, forming meaningful
       chunks in which related material is grouped
       together.
    3. Experts typically have more vivid visual images for
       the items they must recall.
               Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin       Chapter 5
            Retrieval in Long-Term
                   Memory
Expertise
  How Do Experts and Novices Differ? (continued)
    4. Experts work hard to emphasize the
       distinctiveness of each stimulus during encoding.
    5. Experts rehearse in a different fashion.
    6. Experts are better at reconstructing missing
       portions of information from material that they
       partially remember.
    7. Experts are more skilled at predicting the difficulty
       of a task and at monitoring their progress on this
       task.
               Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin         Chapter 5
            Retrieval in Long-Term
                   Memory
Expertise
  Own-Race Bias
    own-race bias—people are generally more accurate
    in identifying members of their own ethnic group than
    members of another ethnic group
    expertise
    distinctiveness




               Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin       Chapter 5
            Retrieval in Long-Term
                   Memory
Expertise
  Own-Race Bias
    Walker and Hewstone (2006)
       discrimination task—photos differing along a continuum of
       race; 2 photos judged same or different
       British high school students, White and South Asian
       accuracy of responses
    contact hypothesis
    age group expertise



                Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin             Chapter 5
                          Own-Race Bias




Figure 5.2 Percentage of Accurate Responses in a Discrimination Task, as a
Function of the Ethnic Group of the Student and the Ethnic Group of the Faces.

                     Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin                        Chapter 5
             Autobiographical
                 Memory
autobiographical memory—memory for events and
issues related to yourself; verbal narrative, imagery,
emotional reactions, procedural information;
measured in terms of accuracy




           Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin        Chapter 5
               Autobiographical
                   Memory
Characteristics of our memory for life events
  1. Although we sometimes make errors, our memory
     is often accurate for a variety of information
     (Theme 2).
  2. When people do make mistakes, they generally
     concern peripheral details and specific information
     about commonplace events, rather than central
     information about important events.
  3. Our memories often blend together information; we
     actively construct a memory at the time of retrieval.

             Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin        Chapter 5
               Autobiographical
                   Memory
Schemas and Autobiographical Memory
  schema—your general knowledge or expectation
    distilled from past experiences with an event
    or a person
  consistency bias—we tend to exaggerate the
    consistency between our past feelings and
    beliefs and our current viewpoint




             Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin   Chapter 5
                Autobiographical
                    Memory
Source Monitoring
  source monitoring—the process of trying to
    identify the origin of memories and beliefs
  Marsh and colleagues (1997)—recognition for
    own ideas and someone else's ideas;
    recognition vs. generation test




              Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin   Chapter 5
                Autobiographical
                    Memory
In Depth: Flashbulb Memories
    flashbulb memory—memory for the circumstances in
    which you first learned about a very surprising and
    emotionally arousing event




              Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin     Chapter 5
                 Autobiographical
                     Memory
In Depth: Flashbulb Memories
  The Classic Study
    Brown and Kulik (1977)—memories triggered by
        important political events; details of location and
        people
    later studies suggested that people made numerous
        errors in recalling details of national events, even
        though they claimed that their memories for these
        events were very vivid


               Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin         Chapter 5
                  Autobiographical
                      Memory
In Depth: Flashbulb Memories
  Memories about September 11, 2001
    Talarica and Rubin (2003)
       memories of ordinary event vs. "flashbulb memory"
       delay before recall
       confidence




                Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin              Chapter 5
                      Flashbulb Memories




Figure 5.3 Average Number of Consistent and Inconsistent Details Reported for a
Flashbulb Event (9/11/2001) and an Ordinary Event, as a Function of the Passage of Time

                        Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin                       Chapter 5
                 Autobiographical
                     Memory
In Depth: Flashbulb Memories
  Memories about September 11, 2001
    Pezdek (2003)—proximity to New York City; factual
    details vs. autobiographical

    rehearsal frequency, distinctiveness, elaboration
    accuracy over time
    New Yorkers remembered more about event itself,
    and less about circumstances when they learned of it


               Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin      Chapter 5
                 Autobiographical
                     Memory
Eyewitness Testimony
    questioning the validity of eyewitness testimony
    DNA vs. eyewitness testimony




               Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin       Chapter 5
                 Autobiographical
                     Memory
Eyewitness Testimony
  The Post-Event Misinformation Effect
    post-event misinformation effect—people view an
       event, are given misleading information about the
       event, mistakenly recall the misleading information
       rather than the event itself




               Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin       Chapter 5
                 Autobiographical
                     Memory
Eyewitness Testimony
  The Post-Event Misinformation Effect
    Loftus and coauthors (1978)—stop/yield sign
        experiment; consistent vs. inconsistent information
    faulty source monitoring
    constructivist approach to memory




               Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin        Chapter 5
                 Autobiographical
                     Memory
Eyewitness Testimony
  Factors Affecting the Accuracy of Eyewitness
  Testimony
    •   People may create memories that are consistent
        with their schemas
    •   People may make errors in source monitoring
    •   Post-event misinformation may distort people's
        recall



               Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin     Chapter 5
                  Autobiographical
                      Memory
Eyewitness Testimony
  Factors Affecting the Accuracy of Eyewitness
  Testimony (continued)
   • Errors are more likely when there is a long delay
     between the original event and the time of the
     testimony.
   • Errors are more likely if the misinformation is
     plausible
   • Errors are more likely if there is social pressure
   • Errors are more likely if eyewitnesses have been
     given positive feedback.
                Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin       Chapter 5
                 Autobiographical
                     Memory
Eyewitness Testimony
  The Relationship Between Memory
  Confidence and Memory Accuracy
    in many situations, participants are almost as
        confident about their misinformation-based
        memories as they are about their genuinely correct
        memories
    confidence not strongly correlated with accuracy




               Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin      Chapter 5
                 Autobiographical
                     Memory
Eyewitness Testimony
  The Recovered Memory/False Memory
  Controversy
    1. The two contrasting positions in the controversy
       recovered-memory perspective
       false-memory perspective




               Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin       Chapter 5
                  Autobiographical
                      Memory
Eyewitness Testimony
  The Recovered Memory/False Memory
  Controversy
    2. The potential for memory errors
       autobiographical memory is less than perfect
       source monitoring and difficulty recalling whether or not we
          actually did something
       therapist suggestions
       often can't determine accuracy




                Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin               Chapter 5
                 Autobiographical
                     Memory
Eyewitness Testimony
  The Recovered Memory/False Memory
  Controversy
    3. Laboratory evidence of false memory
       Roediger and McDermott (1995)—misremembering words on
          lists; false-recall, intrusion errors
       role of associations
       constructing false memories for childhood events




               Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin        Chapter 5
                  Autobiographical
                      Memory
Eyewitness Testimony
  The Recovered Memory/False Memory
  Controversy
    4. Arguments for recovered memory
       lab studies lack ecological validity
       can't create false memories for very embarrassing events




                Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin             Chapter 5
                  Autobiographical
                      Memory
Eyewitness Testimony
  The Recovered Memory/False Memory
  Controversy
    5. Both perspectives are partially correct
       some people have truly experienced childhood sexual abuse
           and may forget about the abuse for many decades until a
           critical event triggers recall;
       other people may never have experienced childhood sexual
           abuse, but a suggestion about abuse creates a false
           memory of experiences that never really occurred;
       in other cases, memory for abuse is accurate for years
           afterwards

                Cognition 7e, Margaret Matlin             Chapter 5