1. Flashbulb Memories then: The Role of Schemas in Memory Psychology 355: Cognitive Psychology Instructor: John Miyamoto 05/10/2016: Lecture 07-2 Note: This Powerpoint presentation may contain macros that I wrote to help me create the slides. The macros aren’t needed to view the slides. You can disable or delete the macros without any change to the presentation.

2. Outline Flashbulb memories ♦ How do they change over time? ♦ Are they based on different mechanisms than everyday memories The role of schemas in memory ("schemas" a.k.a. "schemata") Source monitoring and memory errors Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr ‘16 2 Lecture probably ends here What Are Flashbulb Memorise?

3. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 3 Flashbulb Memories (FBM's) Hypothesis: Memory for a dramatic or shocking event is preserved as if a photographic image was made by using a flashbulb with a camera. ♦ Do you remember where were you and what were you doing when you first heard about the attack on the World Trade Center? ♦ Do you have memories of a major accident, e.g., a car accident? QUESTIONS: Do flashbulb memories differ in strength from regular memories? How do they change over time? Do flashbulb memories involve different memory mechanisms from those that create or maintain ordinary memories? What Creates Autobiographical Memories that Lasts a Long Time?

4. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 4 What Creates AM’s that Last a Long Time? Self-generation of associations (connecting a memory to other knowledge) Distinctiveness Personal importance causes repeated retrievals of a memory. Consolidation & reconsolidation. Distributed practice as opposed to massed practice Strong emotions enhance memory ♦ Hamann, Ely, Grafton, & Kilts (1999): PET study. ♦ Showed subject very pleasant, very unpleasant and neutral pictures. ♦ Emotionally charged pictures produced stronger amygdala response, and better memory. ♦ Cahill, Babinsky, Markowitsch, & McGaugh (1995). Patient with damaged amygdala (B. P.) had normal memory for unemotional narratives, but did not show enhanced memory for emotional parts of a narrative. Do FBM's Involve a Special Memory Mechanism?

5. Is There A Special Memory Mechanism for Flashbulb Memories (FBMs)? Pro: Special Mechanism FBMs are consequential – they have high impact on our lives. FBMs often produce strong emotions. Con: Special Mechanism Narrative rehearsal hypothesis – we think repeatedly about these events. They are only special because of this rehearsal. Just because we have vivid memories for FBMs doesn't mean that the memories are accurate. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 5 Are FBM's Accurate?

6. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 6 Accuracy of FBM's Mixed evidence Neisser & Harsch (1992) Subjects filled out a questionnaire within 1 day of Challenger disaster (1986), and a similar questionnaire 2.5 years later. ♦ Subjects were asked how they learned about the disaster. ♦ Large distortions. Phantom flashbulbs – subjects often replaced initial memory with another, TV-based memory. ♦ 21% said that they initially learned of event from the TV. After 2.5 years, 45% said that they learned of event from the TV. Time Course of Memories for 9/11 Attacks

7. Talarico: Time Course of an FBM Talarico, J. M., & Rubin, D. C. (2003). Confidence, not consistency, characterizes flashbulb memories. Psychological Science, 14, 455-461. Studied memories for the 9/11 attack on WTC. On 9/12/01, 54 Duke students wrote down their memories of how they first heard of the 9/11 attack. They also wrote down a recent everyday memory, e.g., going to a sporting event. The study compared 9/11 memories to everyday memories after varying delays. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 7 Graphs Showing Decrease in Accuracy but not Decrease in Certainty for FBM

8. Goldstein Fig. 8.8. Talarico & Rubin (2003) Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 8 Summary of Results Depicted in these Graphs (Redundant) Number of details correctly recalled for everyday & flashbulb memories as a function of days after the event. Confidence in the accuracy of everyday & flashbulb memories as a function of days after the event.

9. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 9 Talarico Fig 1a Figure 1 from Talarico, J. M., & Rubin, D. C. (2003). Confidence, not consistency, characterizes flashbulb memories. Psychological Science, 14, 455-461. Number of correct details diminishes over time for both flashbulb and everyday memories. Belief in the accuracy of memories diminishes over time for everyday memories but remains high for FBM's. Similar Result for O. J. Simpson Murder Trial

10. Memory for the O. J. Simpson Murder Trial: 15 & 32 Months After the Trial Subjects were interviewed 3 days after the verdict in the O. J. Simpson murder trial. Answered questions about their thoughts on the trial, e.g., how did you learn of the verdict? how do you feel about the verdict? Subjects were randomly assigned to a 2nd interview 15 or 32 months after the 1st interview. Subjects were asked to recall what they thought at the 1st interview. Over time, there are fewer "don't remember" responses, and more very inaccurate memories (Schmolck et al., 2000). Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 10 15 32 15 32 "Don't Remember” Very Inaccurate Responses Responses Why Confidence Remains High While Accuracy Diminishes Over Time Schmolck, H., Buffalo, E. A., & Squire, L. R. (2000). Memory for distortions develop over time: Recollections of the O. J. Simpson trial verdict after 15 and 32 months. Psychological Science, 11, 39-45.

11. Why do people have high confidence in the accuracy of FBM's even though the accuracy declines? People keep thinking about flashbulb memories. ♦ Increases strength of memory. ♦ Supports the narrative rehearsal hypothesis. People add information that helps them make sense out of the memory, but the added information may not be accurate. ♦ The added information makes the memory more meaningful. ♦ Memory is constructive or reconstructive. Source misattribution. ♦ I.e., people learn something after an event but they come to believe that they learned it while experiencing the event. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 11 Return to Question: Is there a Special Mechanism for FBM's?

12. Do Flashbulb Memories (FBM’s) Involve Special Cognitive Mechanisms? Bottom line: No convincing evidence that FBM's involve special mechanisms, although there are ways in which they tend to be unusual. ♦ Encoding is often associated with stronger emotion, more vivid detail, events are more personally important. ♦ It is likely that FBM’s are retrieved multiple times. These retrievals lead to strengthened associations with other facts and ideas. Consolidation and reconstruction of memory over time. ♦ Over time, people have higher confidence in the accuracy of FBM's than everyday memories from the same time period. FBM's appear more vivid and more clear at time of retrieval. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 12 A Schema for "Office Rooms"

13. Brewer & Treyens (1981) : A Schema for "Office Room" Schemas: Representations of typical characteristics of objects, situations or events. Subject asked to wait in this office room for about 30 seconds prior to start of experiment. Subject does not know that memory will be tested for this room. Subject is moved to another room. Recall test – What do you remember about the waiting room? Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 13 Predictions & Findings of "Office Room" Experiment

14. Brewer & Treyens (1981): A Schema for "Office Room" Predictions: Memory will be biased.... (a).... towards recall of schema- consistent information; (b).... and against recall of schema- inconsistent information Findings: Correct recall: Desk, chairs, shelves Intrusion Errors: Books on shelves Omission Errors: Skull, small doll Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 14 Advantages & Disadvantages of Schematic Influences on Memory Schema consistent Schema inconsistent

15. Schemas and Scripts Influence Memory Memory can include information not actually experienced but inferred because it is expected and consistent with the schema "Scripts" are like schemas except that a script is a typical sequence of events or actions. ♦ We have scripts for how to pay for our purchases in a check out line at the market. ♦ We have scripts for how to greet a respected visitor to our home. Memory is constructive. ♦ The constructive property of memory is generally advantageous, but it can lead to errors or “false memories” Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 15 Roediger/McDermott/Deese Experiment – Same as Coglab

16. False Memory 1 Downloaded with permission from Thomas Pusateri’s website, http://iea.fau.edu/pusateri/home/index.htm, 29 December 2004. http://iea.fau.edu/pusateri/home/index.htm ♦ The version of the demonstration shown here slightly modifies the original. Demonstration of the Deese (1959), Roediger & McDermott (1995) false memory paradigm. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 16 Instructions for the Experiment

17. Roediger/McDermott/Deese Paradigm You will see a list of 19 words, one at a time. Do whatever you can to remember as many words as you can. At the end of the list, write down as many of the words as you can recall. Note to Instructor: The following stimulus slides are self timed (1.8 seconds/slide), so just let them run. You don ’ t have to advance the slides. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 17 Start of the Stimulus Sequence

18. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 18 BED

19. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 19 CLOCK

20. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 20 DREAM

21. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 21 NIGHT

22. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 22 TURN

23. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 23 MATTRESS

24. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 24 SNOOZE

25. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 25 NOD

26. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 26 TIRED

27. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 27 NIGHT

28. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 28 STOVE

29. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 29 INSOMNIA

30. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 30 REST

31. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 31 TOSS

32. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 32 NIGHT

33. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 33 ALARM

34. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 34 NAP

35. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 35 SNORE

36. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 36 PILLOW

37. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 37 ************************************************ WRITE DOWN THE WORDS YOU SAW ************************************************ Correct List of Words & Types of Erors Actually you can skip this step, but this is what subjects are asked to do.

38. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 38 Here are the stimulus words in the presented order: BED, CLOCK, DREAM, NIGHT, TURN, MATTRESS, SNOOZE, NOD, TIRED, NIGHT, STOVE, INSOMNIA, REST, TOSS, NIGHT, ALARM, NAP, SNORE, PILLOW Types of Memory Errors Intrusion errors: Words not on the list that you thought were there. o Common intrusion error: Sleep related words like: SLEEP, DROWSY or FATIGUE Omission errors: Words on the list that you didn't recall. o Common omission error: Non-sleep related word like: STOVE Interpretation of Experimental Results

39. Interpretation of Results for the Roediger/McDermott/Deese Paradigm Almost all of the words are sleep-related ("going to sleep" schema). The Roediger/McDermott/Deese paradigm is designed to cause subjects to make two kinds of errors: (a)Schema-consistent intrusion errors. ♦ In the preceding example, the schema was something like "objects or actions that are related to sleeping." ♦ For this example, schema-consistent intrusion errors would be words like: "sleep", "drowsy", "pajamas", etc. (b)Schema-inconsistent omission errors. ♦ The word STOVE was the only non-sleep related word in the list. Subjects are more likely to omit STOVE than other words. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 39 Advantages & Disadvantages of Memory Schemas

40. Advantages & Disadvantages of Constructive Memory Advantages Allows us to fill in the gaps in our knowledge. ♦ Speeds up how quickly we can interpret or respond to a situation. ♦ Helps create a meaningful narrative about our life experiences. In general, cognition is inferential. ♦ The schematic nature of memory – similar to Helmholtz’s “unconscious inference”. Schemas help organize experiences into "chunks." Disadvantages Sometimes we make errors without realizing it. Sometimes our memories are based on expectations and not on the actual experience. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 40 Intro to Source Misattribution & Eyewitness Testimony

41. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 41 Eyewitness Testimony Basic source of evidence in the Anglo-American legal system. Historically more trusted than circumstantial evidence. Of 248 people who were exonerated through the work of the Innocence Project, 75% were convicted on eyewitness testimony (Quinlivan et al., 2009; Scheck et al., 2000). Sources of Error in Eyewitness Testimony

42. Psych 355,, Miyamoto, Spr '16 42 Tuesday, May 10, 2016 : The Lecture Ended Here

43. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 43 Sources of Error in Eyewitness Testimony Intrinsic fallability of memory Post-event suggestions by interested parties, esp. police. ♦ Misleading post-event information (MPI) can bias memory ♦ Misinformation effect (later in this lecture) Misleading familiarity Cross-racial identification Line ups versus show ups. ♦ Line up: Did one of these men do it? (People tend to respond as if the question is, who in this group looks the most like the person you saw?) ♦ Sequential show up: Did Man A do it? Did Man B do it? etc. (Surprisingly less biased) Misinformation Effect

44. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 44 Source Monitoring & Source Misattribution Source monitoring - retaining a memory for the source of information in memory. Source misattribution - attributing a memory to one source when the actual source was something else. ♦ Example: My friends tell me about a large building fire that they witnessed. Years later I believe that I witnessed this fire along with my friends. Source misattribution can cause errors in eyewitness testimony. ♦ A familiar face is more likely to be falsely identified as a perpetrator of a crime (witness thinks the familiarity is due to seeing this person commit the crime). ♦ Example: Donald Thompson, a memory researcher. While watching Donald Thompson on TV, a woman who was attacked in her home. Later she identified him as the attacker. Experimental Study of Source Misattribution

45. Psych 355, Miyamoto, Spr '16 45 Source Misattribution is One Cause of Erroneous Eyewitness Memory A familiar face is more likely to be falsely identified as a perpetrator of a crime (witness thinks the familiarity is due to seeing this person commit the crime). ♦ Example: Donald Thompson, a memory researcher. While watching Donald Thompson on TV, a woman who was attacked in her home. Later she identified him as the attacker. Remember/Know Distinction: ♦ Feeling of familiarity ≠ Recollection but people may say that they "remember" someone when they feel familiar. Tomorrow: Continue discussing source monitoring errors and eyewitness memory. Experimental Study of Source Misattribution