Memory Final- Book- Memory & The Law

Front 1

describe wording effects. give an example.

Back 1

subjects/witnesses can reconstruct their memories based on how they are questioned. using 'the' presupposes existence while 'a' does not.

Front 2

describe misleading postevent information. which experiment shows this effect?

Back 2

misinformation enters memory, & people have difficulty distinguishing it from accurate memories. this is alarmingly easy to do.
the traffic sign false memory experiment.

Front 3

how does a delay of misleading postevent info effect memory?

Back 3

the greater the delay btwn witnessing the event & receiving the misleading info, the worse the performance by the 'witness'.

Front 4

describe some theories for the misleading postevent info effect. (4)

Back 4

-memory trace replacement theory: (erasure) when misleading info is encountered, the original memory trace is permanently lost or altered.
-memory coexistence theory: the misleading info is more recent so is more accessible. there is implicit evidence that the original memory is still there.
-response bias theory: the effect reflects how the memory tests are constructed.
-source monitoring theory: some memory retrieval (non-narrative) tasks require more reflective thinking. this makes aspects of memory that distinguish source more obscure.

Front 5

describe the Yerkes-Dodson law.

Back 5

an earlier view of the relationship btwn emotion & memory. at low levels of arousal, memory encoding is inefficient. at high levels, memory performance is maximized. if a person is overaroused, memory worsens. memory & arousal follow an inverted U shaped continuum.

Front 6

describe the Easterbrook hypothesis.

Back 6

ability to remember details under different levels of emotional stress depends on the type of details. at higher levels of emotional intensity, people restrict their attention to a narrower range of details.

Front 7

what are the theories of arousal influences? (3)

Back 7

-Yerkes-Dodson law
-Easterbrook hypothesis
-Weapon focus

Front 8

what is cue utilization?

Back 8

during an emotional event, people focus more of their attention on the principal parts of that event & less on other irrelevant details in the environment.

Front 9

describe the weapon focus effect.

Back 9

an increase in memory for a weapon that is present along with a decline in memory for other details, such as the perp's face.

Front 10

what does John Dean's memory reveal?

Back 10

distortions in his testimony reflected a schematization of his prior memory. also revealed a self-centered bias.

Front 11

what is the average correlation btwn eyewitness accuracy & reported confidence? what does this reveal?
how does this figure change when only considering witnesses who ID someone in a lineup?

Back 11

.29, confidence is not a good judge of accuracy.
.41 (only considering people who make an ID)

Front 12

how can postidentification feedback affect eyewitness confidence?

Back 12

positive feedback will boost confidence. could also cause witness to embellish the quality of their view of the crime, the clarity of the memory, & the speed at which they identified the perp.

Front 13

how can hearing another witness's report effect eyewitness confidence?

Back 13

hearing that the other witness made the same choice will boost confidence. hearing they made a different choice can decrease confidence.

Front 14

how can question frequency affect eyewitness confidence? why?

Back 14

the more times a witness is asked about an aspect of the crime, the more confident they will be in their memory. that piece of info becomes more accessible through repetition. this translates into confidence of accuracy.

Front 15

how can external motivation affect accuracy & confidence?

Back 15

it affects the relationship of accuracy & confidence. correlation btwn accuracy & confidence for externally motivated witnesses can be very low (e.g., .05)

Front 16

what are the 5 retrieval processes focused on by the CI?

Back 16

-encoding specificity & mood congruent learning. context as a retrieval cue.
-witnesses are encouraged to retrieve whatever info they can remember.
-varied retrieval; different orders.
-varied retrieval; different perspectives.
-questioners are discouraged from interrupting. this can disrupt the retrieval process.

Front 17

what aspects of memory & retrieval does the CI take into account?

Back 17

-learning context
-partial retrieval
-hypermnesia
-part-set cueing

Front 18

how does making a false ID affect the witness memory? how can mugshot familiarity affect witness memory?

Back 18

the witness's ability to ID the per later on is worse.
the familiarity of a previously seen mugshot, even if it was not picked before, can increase its likelihood of being picked later on. source monitoring error.

Front 19

what is the relative judgment principle?

Back 19

people in a lineup are compared to each other in terms of how much they resemble the offender.

Front 20

what is lineup similarity?

Back 20

physical resemblances of others in the lineup

Front 21

how can lineup instructions affect an eyewitness ID? how can the rate of false ID be affected?

Back 21

if the witness is not told that the perp might not be present, there is a strong compulsion to select someone. the rate of false ID drops by about 42% when this instruction is given.

Front 22

how does a sequential lineup vs a simultaneous lineup affect false IDs?

Back 22

a sequential lineup will greatly reduce false IDs, w/little to no effect on positive IDs of perps.

Front 23

what is unconscious transference? what are the 2 theories to explain it?

Back 23

a witness mistakenly IDs an innocent bystander as the perp b/c the memories of the people are confused.
1. blending theory suggests that the memory retrieval process assumes these 2 people are one & the same.
2. source monitoring theory suggests that people remember the bystander, but fail to remember the situation in which they interacted.

Front 24

if info is presented to a jury piece by piece, with a preliminary decision after each item, how does info order affect decisions?

Back 24

juries are more likely to show a recency effect.

Front 25

if info is presented all at once to a jury, how will info order affect decisions? why?(2 ways)

Back 25

1. if people are provided with background info, decisions are more likely to show a recency effect. it gives them a starting point & they can adjust their opinions with new info.
2. if people are presented only with descriptions of reports of various witnesses, decisions are more likely to show a primacy effect. people need to keep more info in working memory & are therefore more reluctant to alter their prior understanding.

Front 26

how well do juries forget info that they have been instructed to disregard? which memory task is this?

Back 26

juries generally do well at forgetting inadmissible evidence. this is a directed forgetting task.

Front 27

when does inadmissible evidence affect a jury's decision making? why? what effect does this show?

Back 27

assessments of a person's attributes (friendly, dishonest. etc.) & decisions to convict or acquit.
b/c the memory may have been suppressed, people may have difficulty assessing the source of the info & will therefore forget that they were supposed to disregard it. this shows a sleeper effect.

Front 28

what variables can effect the efficiency of directed forgetting in juries? what systems of memory come into play?

Back 28

what jurors think about the nature or source of the info.
if the info is described as confidential but inadvertently presented, & they believe the info is accurate & relevant, directed forgetting is less efficient.
the memory still appears to be in LTM & can have an implicit effect on thinking.

Front 29

how can the influences of ineffective juror forgetting be mediated?

Back 29

when jurors discuss the case, the collective memory of the jury can dampen the affect of implicit influences. the info cannot compete w/stronger explicit knowledge that is being discussed.

Front 30

what is counterfactual thinking? how does this affect juror decision making?

Back 30

when a person thinks about how things might have been if someone behaved differently. more likely to focus on behaviors that are outside of a person's normal routine.
jurors tend to assign more guilt to a person who does something out of their ordinary routine, be they a perp or a victim.