Reconstructive Memory
Flashbulb memory
Biases in thinking and decision making
Memory in The Digital World
Technology & Thinking
100

Define Leading questions

Leading questions: by form or content suggests to a witness which answer is desired

100

Define flashbulb memory theory

Flashbulb memory: highly detailed “snapshot” of a moment when a  surprising and emotionally arousing event happened

100

Define Heuristics

Mental shortcuts, simple rule applied with little or no thought

100

Define the google effect? 

The belief that people are using the Internet as a personal memory bank.

100

Define Self-Esteem

Refers to our emotional response to our self-concept.

200

Define Misinformation effect

Misinformation effect: Post-event information facilitates schema processing which may influence the accuracy of recall

200

Who criticized the flashbulb memory theory?

Neisser

200

Define Cognitive biases

Patterns of thinking and decision making which are consistent but inaccurate

200

Define the Social Comparison Theory

  • We determine our own social and personal worth based on how we compare to others, specifically figuring our our self-concept and self-esteem.

200

Define Availability Heuristic

We base our self-esteem on those examples we can most easily remember (the most available) and that are likely to be the most different from our own experience. 

300

Which study showed that memory is not reliable by using leading questions and eyewitness’s?

Loftus and Palmer

300

Which study used fMRI to study the brain activity of participants who were in NYC during 9-11?

Sharot

300

Define Anchoring Bias

the tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information when making decisions

300

What is the transactive memory system?

A form of memory that may exist within groups of closely linked individuals, and are expected to be more than just the sum total of memories stored by the members of the group

300

What is one positive influences of technology on thinking? 

Utal et al- spatial skill improvements from video games.

or

Can switch tasks and "think on their feet" (cognitive flexibility). 

400

What is the method and findings of the Loftus and Palmer study?

  • Aim: investigate whether using leading questions would affect an eyewitness’s estimation of speed

  • Method: 45 students, divided in 5 groups, 7 short films of traffic accidents were shown, questionnaire about accidents, estimated speed of cars using different verbs: “hit,” “smashed” or “bumped.” 

  • Findings: word “smashed'' had higher estimations of speed than “hit.” IV: different intensities of the verbs used in critical question, DV: estimation of speed

  • Second study: same thing but asked a week later if saw any broken glass, showed “smashed” more likely to recall seeing broken glass

400

What are the method and findings of the Brown and Kulik study?

  • Method: 80 participants, series of 9 events: asked if recall circumstances when heard about event and recall, rate scale of personal importance

  • Findings: people had clear memories of where and what they felt when learned of important public occurrence (assassination of JFK or MLK), 73/80 said they had a flashbulb memory associated with a personal shock such as a sudden death

400

What is the method and findings of English and Mussweiler?

  • Method: 44 students, scenario of rape case- prosecutor 34 or 2 month sentence recommendation

  • Findings: when told prosecutor recommended 34 months, participants recommended average 8 months longer than told 2 months

400

Which study's aim was to investigate the use of google and retrieving information? 


Storm et al 2016



400

What were the findings of Bavelier et al? 



Those who had played the action video did the task faster and with fewer errors. They were able to decipher a large amount of info more quickly and come to a decision.

500

What is a study that shows memory is reliable? What is the aim, method, and findings?

Yuille and Cutshall

  • Aim: to examine if leading questions would affect the memory of eyewitness in a real crime scene

  • Method: crime scene in Vancouver, thief shot store owner, 21 eyewitnesses interviewed, 4 months after event. Asked if saw broken headlight, asked if saw yellow panel on car (was actually blue, leading question), asked to rate stress

  • Findings: Eyewitnesses recalled detail, did not make errors

500

How is the Cahill and McGaugh study biological support for the flashbulb memory?

Cahill and McGaugh: found participants remembered details when they had an emotional response to a story, but remembered less when had an emotional response but adrenaline levels were artificially suppressed

500

What are the method and findings of Tversky and Kahneman?

  • Method: High school students, ascending condition: estimate value of list of numbers starting with 1, descending condition: list starting with 8, achor number

  • Findings: predict lower value in ascending condition, first number seen as bias, ascending group number: 512, descending: 2250, actual value: 40320

500

What was the aim of Sparrow et all?

To investigate if we invest less effort in committing info to memory if we believe we can simply retrieve the info from an external memory. 

500

What is a limitation for Chou & Edge?  

self reported data

or


used younger participants (may not account for a wider population)

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