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Fill in the Blank Questions
1. Memory consolidation is dependent on the ________.
hippocampus (p. 170)
2. You recently witnessed an interesting event, but when trying to recall the details, you began to get confused by other things that had happened directly after the event. This effect is called ________ interference.
retroactive (p. 171)
3. Elizabeth Loftus did seminal work showing that sometimes people incorrectly remember details from events and sometimes create entire memories that never occurred. This is called ________.
false memory (pp. 177)
4. A ________ is a set of expectations concerning the actions and events that are appropriate in a particular situation.
script (p. 181)
5. According to levels of processing theory, ________ processing facilitates memory formation, while ________ processing deals only with physical characteristics.
deep; shallow (pp. 187)
Short Answer Questions
1. What is a memory trace and how does it differ from a memory schema?
A memory trace is thought to be a permanent, true copy of a past experience that is recorded in memory. A memory schema is thought to be an organization of memory traces into a coherent memory. Memory traces are considered true renditions of an experience although they are fragmented in nature; schemas are more complete and less fragmented than traces, but the process of constructing schemas goes beyond the memory traces upon which they are based, making them more susceptible to error. (pp. 165, 172–175)
2. How does Freud’s analogy of the mystic writing pad clarify the distinction between memory traces and memory schemas?
Freud’s mystic writing pad analogy suggests that memory traces are laid down in memory much as written words are laid down in the wax of the writing pad. According to the analogy, these different memory traces (words imprinted in the wax) overlap and run into each so that one cannot rely on the wax imprints alone to retrieve a word, but rather must make inferences based on what we expect to retrieve. Thus, inferences will help us reconstruct what we retrieve from the wax pad much in the same way that memory schemas guide us in our reconstruction of past experiences based on our memory traces. (p. 165)
3. What is a flashbulb memory and how is it both different from and the same as an ordinary memory?
Flashbulb memories are especially vivid memories for particularly important events. To the individual who is remembering, these memories seem far more vivid and accurate than ordinary memories. Research has shown, however, that although flashbulb memories are associated with a greater degree of confidence in their accuracy, they are in fact no more accurate than ordinary memories. (pp. 166–170)
4. What is the Now Print! theory and how does it relate to the five stages of the Brown and Kulik model?
The Now Print! theory describes the processes involved in memory formation, with a special attempt made to account for flashbulb memories. This theory involves new information being processed in a series of five stages. The first stage tests for “surprisingness.” The second stage tests an event for consequentiality (how important the event is). Only if the information passes these two stages will it move to the third stage and become a flashbulb memory. At this third stage the memory is recorded in precise detail, as if the “Print” button on a photocopier has been pressed. The fourth stage is a rehearsal of the memory, and finally the fifth stage is the flashbulb account of the memories we recount to other people. (pp. 166–167).
5. Briefly describe the consolidation theory.
The consolidation theory proposes that memory traces of an event are not fully formed immediately after the event, but rather take some time to be laid down as a complete memory. (pp. 170–171)
6. How can the consolidation process be disrupted? Provide an example of how this disruption may happen.
The process of consolidation can be disrupted by events that take place after the event to be re-membered—a phenomenon called retroactive interference. For example, strenuous mental work immediately after an event disturbs consolidation, leaving the memory traces for that event weak and susceptible to forgetting. (pp. 170–171).
7. What is the difference between the method of repeated reproduction and the method of serial reproduction? What did these methods reveal about how information is recalled?
In the method of repeated reproduction, a participant reads the material and then attempts to reproduce it at increasingly long intervals. In the method of serial reproduction, one participant, A, is given something to remember. A’s recollection is given to B to remember and recall. B’s recollection is given to C, and so on. These methods reveal a systematic process of rationalization such that certain features of the original information were remembered or forgotten in or-der to make the overall memory more coherent and sensible from the point of view of the “rememberer.” (p. 172)
8. Briefly describe what is meant by specific and general levels of representation.
Specific and general levels of representations refer to the finding that as we age, we tend to for-get specific details of an event but are able to remember more general and deeper meanings of events. (p. 189)
9. Briefly describe how the misinformation effect occurs.
The misinformation effect may occur when misleading post-event information becomes integrated with original event information. (p. 177)
10. What are the levels of processing framework? State two ways that information can be deeply processed?
The levels-of-processing framework explains that information may be processed along a continuum of processing depths. Further, the more deeply we process information, the more able we are to recall it later. Elaboration and distinctiveness are two ways of processing information more deeply. (pp. 187–188)