Chapter 8 – Manipulation and Improvement of Memory

1. Chapter 8 – Manipulation and Improvement of Memory Unit 3 – Area of Study 2: Memory Pages 392-418

2. Study Design Content – use of context dependent cues and state dependent cues – mnemonic devices including acronyms, acrostics, peg-word method, narrative chaining and method of loci – effect of misleading questions on eye-witness testimonies including the reconstructive nature of memory informed by the work of Elizabeth Loftus

3. Manipulation and Improvement of Memory • Research shows that much of what we recall from out LTM is not an accurate representation of what actually happened • Instead it is a logical and plausible account of what might have happened, filtered and shaped by out feelings, thoughts and emotions • How do errors and distortions creep into our memory? • A new memory is not simply formed it is actively constructed – when we later attempt to retrieve these details from out LTM we actively reconstruct, or re-create the details of our memory

4. Manipulation of Memory • The most widely reported studies into the reconstructive nature of memory has been conducted by American psychologist Elizabeth Loftus on eyewitness testimonies • Loftus has found that eyewitnesses similarly reconstruct their memories and their testimony is not always accurate • Loftus’ research makes it clear that leading questions can be used to manipulate memory • Leading questions are those that has content or are worded in such a way as to suggest what answer is desired or leads to the desired answer

5. Manipulation of Memory • An example of a leading question to someone who witnessed a car accident could be: • How fast was the car going when it ran the stop sign? • This leading question contains a presupposition – that is information that should or must be true in order for the information to make sense (i.e. the stop sign) • The question assumes there was a stop sign, even if there wasn’t one, and you will probably answer the question anyway as it didn’t ask whether or not there was a stop sign • Loftus proposed however, that because of the way it was worded, you might add false information about the stop sign to your LTM of the event • Then you are more likely to recall it as part of your reconstructed memory when asked a question about it such as “Did you see a stop sign?”

6. Studies by Loftus • One of the most influential of Loftus’s research was conducted with American colleague John Palmer • They examined the influence of question wording on memory and how information supplied after an event can distort a witness’s memory for that event • Read Loftus & Palmer (1974) and complete Manual Activity 11 – Reconstruction of automobile destruction – An analysis of Loftus and Palmer’s (1974) research design

7. Improvement of Memory • There is no magical solution to allow us to recall or remember information in our memory • Those who want to improve their memory must rely on specific mental strategies • Some things are easy to remember while others require a more conscious effort to store in memory

8. Chapter 10 - Forgetting Context & State Dependent Cues • Another effective way of enhancing retrieval from LTM is to recreate the conditions under which the required information was originally learned. • This approach is formally called the ‘encoding specificity principle’. • In general, the more closely the retrieval cues match the original learning conditions, the more likely it is that the information will be recalled.

9. Context Dependent Cues • Why is it that police investigating a crime may take a suspect back to the scene of a crime? Chapter 10 - Forgetting

10. Chapter 10 - Forgetting Context Dependent Cues • The answer to this question is based on research findings that cues in the environment may be important in helping to locate and retrieve related memories. • Context Dependent Cues are environmental cues in a particular context (setting) where a memory was formed which act as retrieval cues to help access memories formed in that context.

11. Chapter 10 - Forgetting Context Dependent Cues • These cues may include: • Sights • Smells • Sounds – that exist within that particular situation. • This can explain why the eyewitness remembers more about a crime when present at the crime scene. • Or when you forget an answer to an exam question, only to have it come back to you when you are at home sitting at your desk. • Learning Activity 8.4 – Evaluation of research by Godden and Baddeley (1975), pg. 400

12. Chapter 10 - Forgetting State Dependent Cues • Internal cues that are related to an experience may also trigger the retrieval of associated memories. • State Dependent Cues are associated with an individual’s internal physiological and psychological state at the time the memory was formed, which acts as a retrieval cue to help access those memories.

13. Chapter 10 - Forgetting State Dependent Cues • For example, if information is learned when you are happy, sad, intoxicated, sober, calm or aroused, that information is more likely to be retrieved when the individual is in the same ‘state’. • Learning Activity 8.5– Review questions, pg. 402

14. Chapter 10 - Forgetting Mnemonic Devices • Techniques for improving memory are known as mnemonic devices. • They can be as basic as a rhyme, or complicated strategies which themselves take considerable effort to learn. • Mnemonic devices make use of information that is already stored in LTM. • The devices do not simplify the information – they actually make it more elaborate.

15. Chapter 10 - Forgetting Mnemonic Devices • More information is stored, not less. • However the additional information makes the material easier to retrieve because it has enhanced organisation in memory. • Mnemonic devices tend to organise new information into a cohesive whole, so that retrieval of part of the information usually assists retrieval of the rest of it. • These facts suggest that the ease or difficulty with which we learn new information depends not on how much we learn, but on how well it fits with what we already know.

16. Chapter 10 - Forgetting Acronyms • Acronyms are pronounceable words formed from the first letters of a sequence of words. • EFTPOS • ANZAC • NATO • SEER • ROY G BIV

17. Chapter 10 - Forgetting Rhymes • A Rhyme is a phrase or string of words (such as a jingle), often with an emphasis • On similar sounding key words. • i before e, except after c. • 30 days has September, April, June and November, all the rest have 31, except February which has 28 and 29 in a leap year.

18. Chapter 10 - Forgetting Acrostics • Acrostics, or the method of word associations, involves making verbal associations for items to be remembered by constructing phrases using the first letters of the information to be remembered. • This is one of the most common mnemonic devices used by people when large amounts of information needs to be remembered.

19. Chapter 10 - Forgetting Acrostics • My Very Elder Mother Just Sits Up Near Pop. • What does this acrostic help us remember? • Manual Activity 7 – Improving memory using mnemonic devices I – An activity comparing acrostics and acronyms, pg. 84

20. Chapter 10 - Forgetting The Peg Word Method • The peg word method consists of memorising a rhyme or jingle that has mental ‘pegs’ or ‘markers’, on which you ‘hang’ the items to be remebered. • To do this you can easily use a series of numbers (ie 1-10) and recall a rhyming word for each number. • You then associate the item to be remembered with the rhyming cue.

21. Chapter 10 - Forgetting The Peg Word Method • The peg word method is particularly effective when the image of the peg word object and the image of the object to be recalled interact, rather than merely being paired side by side. • While it may seem as if learning information using the peg word method is a lot of extra work, experimental evidence suggests that it is worth the effort as it can significantly improve recall.

22. Chapter 10 - Forgetting Narrative Chaining • Narrative Chaining involves linking to one another (chaining) otherwise unrelated items to form a meaningful sequence or story (narrative). • Fig 10.30 – Narrative Chaining p412 • Usually there is no difference with immediate recall using narrative chaining compared to other methods, however, recall after a significant amount of time can be as high as 90% (compared to 20% on other methods). • Manual Activity 8- Improving memory using mnemonic devices II – Enhancing memory using narrative chaining, pg. 85

23. Chapter 10 - Forgetting Method of Loci • One of the oldest types of mnemonic devices ever used is the technique called the method of loci. • This technique uses a well known sequence of locations as a series of retrieval cues for the information to be recalled. • In this method, the orators would associate the parts of their speeches with landmarks in a familiar place or a part of a building.

24. Chapter 10 - Forgetting Method of Loci • The first step involved in the method of loci is to learn, in their naturally occurring order, some locations which are easily distinguishable and well known to you. • The second step is to associate a visual image of each item to be remembered with a location in the sequence. • Experimental investigations indicate that method of loci can improve memory by a factor of 2 or 3 times over normal free recall. • Manual Activity 9– Improving memory using mnemonic devices III – An activity using the method of loci, pg. 86

25. Chapter 10 - Forgetting Improving Memory • Learning Activity 8.7– Experiencing narrative chaining & method of loci, pg. 408 • Learning Activity 8.8 – Review questions, pg. 411 • Learning Activity 8.9– Evaluating a mnemonic device, pg. 412