33.1 – Explain why we forget. Herman Ebbinghaus was one of the first researchers to investigate the elements of forgetting. He discovered the Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve (a.k.a. – Forgetting Curve, Ebbinghaus Curve). Ebbinghaus discovered that much of what is learned is quickly forgotten. How quickly varied, depending on how effectively the information was encoded, how it was remembered, and how much it was rehearsed. He also discovered that over time the among of information that was forgotten leveled off. In other words, information that is not quickly forgotten tends to remain in long-term memory over a substantial period of time.

33.1 – Explain why we forget. Factors that Affect Forgetting Encoding Failure: occurs when information was never encoded into long-term memory.

33.1 – Explain why we forget. Factors that Affect Forgetting 2) Storage Decay: poor durability of stored memories leads to their decay (Ebbinghaus research).

33.1 – Explain why we forget. Factors that Affect Forgetting 3) Retrieval Failure: although the information is retained in the memory store, it cannot be accessed. -Tip-of-the-Tongue: a retrieval failure phenomenon; given a cue, the subject says the word begins with the letter _.

33.1 – Explain why we forget. Factors that Affect Forgetting 4) Interference: suggests that memories can interfere with each other, causing information to be forgotten. a) Proactive Interference: an older memory interferes with your remembering a new memory. b) Retroactive Interference: a new memory interferes with your remembering an old memory.

33.1 – Explain why we forget. Factors that Affect Forgetting 5) Amnesia: severe memory loss. a) Anterograde Amnesia: inability to form new memories. b) Retrograde Amnesia: inability to remember events from the past.

33.1 – Explain why we forget. Factors that Affect Forgetting 6) Repression: the unconscious forgetting of information (motivated forgetting) -Suppression is used to consciously forget information.

33.2 – Explain how misinformation, imagination, and source amnesia influence our memory construction, and describe how we decide whether a memory is real or fake. Memory Construction Memory is not precise; we infer our past from stored information plus what we imagined later, expected, saw, and heard.

33.2 – Explain how misinformation, imagination, and source amnesia influence our memory construction, and describe how we decide whether a memory is real or fake. Misinformation and Imagination Effects (Elizabeth Loftus) Misinformation Effect: incorporating misleading information into one’s memory of an event. When we are exposed to misleading information, we tend to misremember.

33.2 – Explain how misinformation, imagination, and source amnesia influence our memory construction, and describe how we decide whether a memory is real or fake. Source Amnesia: attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined. (also called source misattribution). Source amnesia, along with the misinformation effect, is at the heart of many false memories. Source amnesia explains déjà vu. Déjà vu: that eerie sense that “I’ve experienced this before”. Cues from the current situation may unconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience. Eyewitness Testimony – memory construction helps explain why 79% of 200 convicts exonerated later by DNA testing had been misjudged based on faulty eyewitness testimony.

33.3 – Describe the reliability of young children’s eyewitness descriptions and discuss the controversy related to claims of repressed and recovered memories. Discerning True and False Memories Children’s Eyewitness Recall  Children’s eyewitness recall can be unreliable if leading questions are posed.  However, if questioned in neutral words they can understand, children often accurately recall what happened to them.  Consensus on Childhood Abuse (repressed or constructed memories of abuse?) Leading psychological associations of the world agree on the following concerning childhood sexual abuse: 1) Injustice happens. 2) Incest and other sexual abuse happens. 3) People may forget. 4) Recovered memories are commonplace. 5) Recovered memories under hypnosis or drugs are unreliable. 6) Memories of things happening before 3 years of age are unreliable. 7) Memories, whether real or false, can be emotionally upsetting.

33.4 – Describe how you can use memory research findings to do better in this and other courses. Improving Memory 1) Study repeatedly to boost long-term recall. 2) Spend more time rehearsing or actively thinking about the material. 3) Make material personally meaningful. -mindlessly repeating someone else’s words while taking notes is relatively ineffective. 4) Use mnemonic devices: a) associate with something already stored. b) make up a story. c) chunk – acronyms 5) Activate retrieval cues – mentally recreate the situation and mood. 6) Recall events while they are fresh – before you encounter misinformation. 7) Minimize interference: a) test your own knowledge. b) rehearse and then determine what you do not yet know.