Question #1 Word Count: 245 P1: The Critical lure in Experiment 1 is a word that was related to the studied words but wasn’t actually present in the original list. Studied words that were not omitted were recalled with a 75% confidence level. Unrelated lures stuck out like a sore thumb at (80%), and weakly related lures showed little significant, but critical lures were recalled with false confidence of (58%). This data demonstrates that we falsely remember things related in subject matter but fail to identify the source of these items especially when there is in-between time recall. P2: The fact that we can misjudge the source of our memories by creating what we think to be a realistic origin of memory can help explain why the critical…
In the book Mistakes Were Made (but not by me) by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson, they talk about the idea that memory is reconstructive. It means, memories can be affected by things that are currently happening. The idea of source confusion, the misattribution of information. The problem comes in criminal trials, relationships, and politics.…
Memory is one the most amazing abilities a human being can have. We have the power to store, retain and recall our past life experiences. Although we can recall our memories, what is important to know is that we also have the power to alter our memories without even knowing. Alteration of memory can happen through current experiences and influences, which is what happened to Jennifer Thompson. She was so sure that Ronald Cotton raped her, that when she faced her actual rapist in court she didn't even recognized him.…
She places an emphasis on how a cell function, how there is a selective permeability in which a cell’s nucleus chooses what to let into its own mechanism and what to kick out of its system and how “messages to awaken these genes are transmitted by the surrounding cytoplasm, message from other cells, or from outside substances” (Griffin 380). In other words, Susan begins indirectly ask a rhetorical question: Are humans similar to cells in the animals and plants? Do they choose what goes into their own “cell” through a process similar to the process in a cell called selective permeability? Perhaps it is true that each individual can choose whether or not to be affected by an event or even by people around them like a cell allowing only some substances into its system. Nonetheless, it seems as though every single person in the world is still affected, if not slightly affected, by their childhood memories and by the people around them throughout life.…
I came across this article years ago on TED called “Elizabeth Loftus: How reliable is your memory? (2003).” Loftus is a psychologist who studies memories. She studies false memories and false memory is when a person is very susceptible to a suggestion which can create a memory of events that never really happened. I think most people can relate to having a false memory, I know I can but, Loftus goes more in-depth with her findings on false memory and shows you just how detrimental your memory is.…
Perception Imagine driving down the road and what seems to be coming towards you is a giant black puddle. The puddle keeps transforming in to different shapes as the sun reflects different levels of brightness on the road. You look around and see that it is not raining and you wonder why you would be seeing a puddle. As your car gets even nearer to the puddle suddenly the puddle disappears and all you see is the hot black pavement. This is when you realize that you were not seeing a puddle at all but rather you were seeing hot spots in the middle of the road.…
In response to this identity theory of memory, philosophers Clark and Chalmers proposed a theory of memory that holds that memory is a kind of mental storage similar to a notebook. According to Clark and Chalmers, facts are recorded in the minds just as facts can be recorded in a notebook. As such, memory is a storage of ideas and experiences that can be called upon by the mind to be used in our day-to-day cognition. To illustrate this, Clark and Chalmers compare two examples of memory.…
The effect of personal anecdotal evidence on confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is the common human tendency to notice or seek out information which confirms our already existing beliefs while ignoring evidence which conflicts our beliefs. It is particularly prevalent in cases where our beliefs are mere prejudice or based on superstition. Confirmation bias is the reason why many people believe in the supernatural such as ESP, lucky charms or the lunar effect: a claim that human behaviour is influenced by the position of the moon in its cycle. These kind of beliefs are usually backed up by evidence of personal experience.…
What is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder? “According to the American Psychiatric Association, Post-traumatic stress disorder is known to be an anxiety disorder that resulted from a particular tragic or terrifying incident stimulating major stress. Individual with PTSD normally have constant frightening thoughts & memories of their past encounters, this makes them emotionally numb to their close relatives or friends. PTSD knows no age limit or barrier, it can happen at any age.…
Memory is what shapes us and teaches us about the past. When we learn about the past and what has happened we will be more likely to remember the signs leading up to the event to recall the memories and help us in the future. Marilu Henner said “memories suddenly emerge to protect us from danger” (qtd. in Holmes). When we remember about the past “it’s a great insurance policy against loss” stated by Marilu Henner (qtd. In Holmes).…
There is a distinct line between what is real and what is stored in our memory. False memories are memories for events which never actually occurred. These false memories can come from different sources and take on different forms. “Often times false memories come from our natural impulse to integrate several pieces of information into a single, coherent memory, and we misremember what individual pieces were learned apart from the whole” (Radvansky, 2011, p. 254).…
An example of this is having no memory of being asleep while not dreaming, or being completely unconscious. It can be argued that even under these conditions personal identity can be preserved. So, even after this period of unconsciousness, a relation still remains among the mental contents of past and present persons. An individual has the capacity to preserve memories from the earlier experiences of the past individual; thus, even without having absolute clarity of recalling preceding events, the mental contents of the present individual are continuous of that of the past person.…
They say you cannot repeat the past no matter how much you want it to reoccur. Many are stuck on the idea that a past event, a significant memory, can happen again. Like in the book The Great Gatsby, Gatsby, a young man trying to get the attention of his old flame, Daisy, wants things to be like they were before. He left for the war and later made a fortune in order to be with Daisy and marry her. By the time Gatsby went back for her, she was already with another man, making Gatsby do anything in his power to get Daisy back.…
Memory is the encoding, storage and retrieval of past events and experiences, it is present in the short term memory store and then transferred to the long term memory store. The retrieval of memory isn’t always accurate as memories become distorted over time. The distortion of these memories are due to some influencing factors such as language, age, reconstructive errors and emotion. Taking all these factors into consideration leads to the point that memory is only to some extent reliable. Language plays a big role in how we remember, language is used to convey how we remembered the event but it is also a influence on how we remembered the event.…
How can this possibly be true? If I do not remember being a baby, does that mean I was never actually a baby? If I don’t remember the first house I ever lived in, does that mean it did not exist? To say these things would be incredibly ignorant. Of course you were once a baby, just because you don’t remember it doesn’t mean it never happened.…