Reconsolidation & Constructive Memory
This process occurs when a retrieved long-term memory becomes unstable and is stored again in a potentially altered form
What is reconsolidation?
This memory error occurs when misleading information after an event alters a person's memory of that event
What is the misinformation effect?
This occurs when imagining an event increases confidence that it actually happened
What is imagination inflation?
This defense mechanism involves unconsciously pushing away distressing thoughts or memories
What is repression?
This type of amnesia involves difficulty forming new memories after the onset of brain damage
What is anterograde amnesia?
Researchers compare human memory to this editable online source rather than a video camera
What is Wikipedia page?
The psychologist most associated with research on the misinformation effect =
Who is Elizabeth Loftus?
This memory error involves remembering information but forgetting where it came from.
What is source amnesia?
The inability to reliably remember events from before age 4 is known as:
What is infantile amnesia?
This type of amnesia involves loss of memories formed before the onset of brain damage
What is retrograde amnesia?
A student retells the same embarrassing story from middle school for years, adding new details each time. Eventually, the story no longer matches what actually happened. This best illustrates:
What is reconsolidation?
This occurs when older memories interfere with learning new information
What is proactive interference?
This occurs when mood influences the type of memories we retrieve
What is mood congruent memory?
Why does modern research argue that traumatic childhood memories are unlikely to be repressed?
Because trauma activates the amygdala, leading to stronger more vivid memories
This is an umbrella term for cognitive decline that interferes with daily functioning
What is dementia?
Why does repeatedly telling a story often reduce accuracy rather than improve it?
Because each retrieval makes the memory unstable and vulnerable to modification during reconsolidation
A lawyer repeatedly asks a witness, "How fast was the car going when it smashed into the pedestrian?" What is the primary memory concern?
The question may introduce misleading information that alters the witness's memory
You call your ex by your new partner's name
What is retroactive interference?
In a study, children develop vivid memories of an event that never happened after repeated suggestive interviews. What explains this?
Suggestive interviewing combined with constructive memory process
A student remembers material better when taking a test in the same classroom where they studied
What is context-dependent memory?
Explain why eyewitness testimony can change over time even when the witness is confident
Because memories are constructive and are altered each time they are retrieved and reconsolidated
Why does the misinformation effect have long-term impacts on memory?
Because altered memories are reconsolidated and stored as if they were accurate
Explain why imagination inflation is more likely when imagined events include vivid sensory details
Because rich imagery blurs the boundary between real memories and imagined experiences
How does infantile amnesia challenge claims of recovered memories from early childhood?
Because brain structures necessary for reliable memory consolidation aren't fully developed
What part of the brain is affected when someone develops Alzheimer's
What is the hippocampus?