Topic 2b - Memory

Question 1

Main Idea

Answer 1

Our memory is our brain’s attempt to recreate what happened based on available information, rather than stored information that is accessed

Question 2

Missing Doctor List

Answer 2

• Someone reads a list of words related to medicine, people remember the word “doctor” being on the list even though it wasn’t
• When you remember something, you are trying to figure out what happened, and your guess can be wrong

Question 3

Constructive in Nature

Answer 3

• Remembering is constructive, so you can remember events than never occurred quite clearly
• Our experience is the product of our guesses of what’s there, and memory is no exception

Question 4

Eyeglasses vs Barbells

Answer 4

• People are shown an abstract shape, then asked to redraw the item they saw. The experimenter says what the item was (for instance, a pair of glasses) which leads people to add details to the drawing that weren’t in the original shape
• Remembering is the process of generating what you think happened in the past

Question 5

Car Crash Memory Study

Answer 5

• People are asked how fast a car was going in a video of a car crash. People give different estimates based on the word choice of the question (“smashed” vs “bumped”)
• Even though they saw the video before being given the word, the word affects their memory

Question 6

Broken Glass from Crash

Answer 6

• Same as above, but people are asked if they saw broken glass
• People sometimes add details (broken glass) based on what they think happened (if they think the car “smashed” the other one)

Question 7

Repetition Breeds Familiarity

Answer 7

• If you repeatedly misremember something, you are essentially practicing misremembering it, so you recall it better
• Memory can be skewed by repeatedly emphasizing something

Question 8

Memory and Perception

Answer 8

• Subjects are rapidly presented 7 words and then a test word, which may or may not have been one of the earlier words and might be blurry
• Word was more often mistakenly believed to be in the list if it wasn’t blurry, because it seems more familiar when you can see it clearly
• Your perceptions can influence your memories

Question 9

Perception and Memory

Answer 9

• Subjects are shown faces at varying levels of blurriness
• Faces they’ve seen before are reported to be less blurry than unfamiliar ones
• Your memories can influence your perceptions

Question 10

Source Forgetting

Answer 10

• People shown a series of statements for one exercise, then another series for a second exercise which may include statements from the first one
• People tend to rate previously seen statements as being more reliable, even though they knew during the first exercise it might have been false
• Seeing something multiple times makes it seem more credible

Question 11

Source Forgetting even when you knew if it was true

Answer 11

• Same as previous, but people were straight-up told whether or not the statement was true at the time
• People still made the same assumptions
• The effect of source forgetting is very powerful

Question 12

Repetition in Propaganda

Answer 12

• Politicians have talking points so that people hear them over time and then find them more credible
• People understand and exploit how our cognitive systems work

Question 13

Medical Technology - the list

Answer 13

• Conditions drastically improved in hospitals where doctors used a checklist for hygiene issues rather than trying to remember them
• Even the smartest of the smartest fall prey to faulty memory