Cog Reporting

EVERYDAY MEMORY AND MEMORY ERRORS
Autobiographical Memory: What has happened in my life.
Autobiographical memory is memory for specific experiences from our life, which can include
both episodic and semantic components.
Two important characteristics of autobiographical memories are

 they are multidimensional and
 we remember some events in our lives better than others.
Components to your memory:

 visual - what you see when you transport yourself back in time;
 auditory - what people are saying or other sounds in the environment
 and perhaps smells, tastes, and tactile perceptions as well.
Memories extend beyond vision, hearing, touch, taste, and smell,
Memory Over Life Span

 Reminiscence bump - The enhanced memory for adolescence and young adulthood
found in people over 40.
 The self-image hypothesis proposes that memory is enhanced for events that occur as
a person’s self-image or life identity is being formed (Rathbone et al., 2008).
 Cognitive hypothesis, proposes that periods of rapid change that are followed by
stability cause stronger encoding of memories.
 The cultural life script hypothesis distinguishes between a person’s life story, which is
all of the events that have occurred in a person’s life, and a cultural life script, which is
the culturally expected events that occur at a particular time in the life span.
 The youth bias - the tendency for the most notable public events in a person’s life to be
perceived to occur when the person is young.
Memory for "exceptional” events

 It is clear that some events in a person’s life are more likely to be remembered than
others.
 A characteristic of most memorable events is that they are significant to the person and,
in some cases, are associated with emotions.
Memory and emotion

 Emotions and memory are intertwined, Emotions are often associated with special
events, such as beginning or ending relationships or events experienced by many
people.
 And one structure stands out is the AMYGDALA.
Flashbulb memories (brown and kulik proposed the term)
 To refers to a persons memory for the circumstances surrounding shockingly, highly
charged events. Many individuals can vividly recall specific details such as their location
who they were and what they are wearing that time.
Flashbulb memories are not like photographs

 Brown and Kulik’s idea that flashbulb memories are like a photograph was based on
their findings that people were able to describe in some detail what they were doing
when they heard about highly emotional events.
Are flashbulb memories different from other memories?

 Study suggests that perhaps memories that are supposed to be flashbulbs memories
decay just like a regular memories.
The constructive nature of memory

 Do we remember certain things better than others because of their significance or
because of when the happen in our lives?
 These are memories that are constructed based on what actually happened plus
additional factors, such as the person’s knowledge, experiences, and expectations.
Aspects of the constructive nature of memory:

● Source monitoring errors/ source misattributions
- process of determining the origins of our memories, knowledge or beliefs.
- Can be the reason why can we misidentify a source of information.
- Cryptonesia- known example of SME, unconscious plagiarism of the work of others.
● The illusory truth effect

- The enhanced probability of evaluating a statement as being true upon repeated
presentation.
- Another demonstration of familiarity causing errors.
- Is the following sentence true or false? “Chemosynthesis is the name of the process by
which plants make their food.” If you said “false” you were right. (“Photosynthesis” is the
actual process.) But one way to increase the chances that you might incorrectly state
that the chemosynthesis statement is true is to have you read it once, and then again
later.
How Real-World Knowledge Affects Memory?

 The effects of creating familiarity on source monitoring illustrate how factors in addition
happen can affect memory.
● Bartlett’s “War Of The Ghosts” Experiment- a study about how our real world
knowledge affects memory.
● Making Interferences- memory reports that are influenced by inferences that people
make based on their experiences amd knowledge.
● Schemas- a person's knowledge about some aspect of the environment.
● Script- our conception of the sequence of actions that usually occurs during a particular
experience. Example: your coffee shop script: waiting in line, ordering, received the
order, pay, and wait for pick up.
● False Recall And Recognition- recalling of items that weren't actually presented.
What Is It Like To Have “Exceptional" Memory

● Advantages and Disadvantages of people having "Super Memory”
● Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory Cases of Shereshevskii and A.J
The Misinformation Effect and Creating Memories for Events in People's Lives.
 Misinformation Effect- Happens when people's memories get mixed up or changed

because they've been given wrong or misleading information after an event.
 Misleading Postevent Information- specifically refers to details or suggestions given
after an event that can change how people remember what actually happened.
 Creating Memories For Events And In People’s Lives- Creating memories for events
in people's lives refers to the process by which individuals form and store recollections of
past experiences. This involves encoding sensory information, emotions, and contextual
details into memory, storing these memories in the brain, and later retrieving them when
needed.
 Repressed Childhood Memory- Repressed childhood memory means forgetting or
pushing away painful or traumatic events from childhood so deeply that you can't
remember them consciously.
CONCLUSION
 In conclusion Autobiographical memory, a multidimensional process, can be influenced

by brain damage. Memory events, such as transition points and the reminiscence bump,
are often associated with emotions and the amygdala. Flashbulb memory, vivid and
detailed, is not accurate over time. The narrative rehearsal hypothesis suggests
rehearsal may enhance memory for significant events. The constructive approach
suggests memories are constructed based on actual events and factors. Factors like
familiarity, schemas, scripts, and false recall can impact memory. The text also
discusses eyewitness testimony errors, including emotional situations, familiarity,
suggestion, and feedback.

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EVERYDAY MEMORY AND MEMORY ERRORS

Autobiographical Memory: What has happened in my life.

Two important characteristics of autobiographical memories are

Components to your memory:

Memories extend beyond vision, hearing, touch, taste, and smell,

Memory Over Life Span

Memory for "exceptional” events

Memory and emotion

Flashbulb memories are not like photographs

Are flashbulb memories different from other memories?

The constructive nature of memory

Aspects of the constructive nature of memory:

● The illusory truth effect

How Real-World Knowledge Affects Memory?

What Is It Like To Have “Exceptional" Memory

 Misinformation Effect- Happens when people's memories get mixed up or changed

 In conclusion Autobiographical memory, a multidimensional process, can be influenced

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