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Reconstructive Memory - Coggle Diagram
Reconstructive Memory
What is Reconstructive memory?
The Reconstructive memory suggests that memory is stored partially rather than completely. When retrieved; the brain attempts to reconstruct the memory, using the perception, belief, past experience, and the context in which the brain is recalling the information. Bartlett argued that memory is an imaginative reconstructive of experience, and that we attempt to explain the past via creating our own interpretations of events and guessing what happened.
Evidence (Notable Case Studies)
Loftus and Palmer (1994)
Details
The aim of the experiment was to find out whether use of leading questions would affect estimations of speed. This was done by conducting two experiments with all student participants.
Experiment 1
Participants were shown videos of car accidents then asked specific questions regarding the accidents.
Questions such as "About how fast were the cars going when they hit each other?" or "About how fast were the cars going when they hit each other?"
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Experiment 2
This experiment builds off the first one, gathering the individuals who estimated a high speed for the vehicle during the accident. They would be asked if they saw broken glass during this part of the experiment. It was assumed that the group would say yes.
150 students participated, they were shown a 1 minute film depicting a car accident that lasted 4 seconds. After this, they were given a questionnaire to answer.
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Loftus and Pickrell (1995)
Procedure
There were 24 participants, 3 of which were males and 21 of which were females.
Procedure (continued)
The participants were asked through a questionnaire to write about four select events. Three of the events were real events experienced by the participants, while one was "getting lost at the mall"
Procedure (Final)
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Ronald Cotton (1984)
Details
Ronald Cotton is an individual who was wrongly convicted of rape after an eyewitness, Jennifer Thompson, incorrectly stated that Cotton was her rapist. This occurred despite Jennifer Thompson remembering in graphic detail how her rapist looked like.
This wrongful conviction occurred for several reasons.
Ronald Cotton was dressed in the same clothing as the rapist. It was found that witnesses are more likely to choose individuals with similar clothes rather over similar facial features.
The individuals in the lineup should all match the description of the criminal, and the witness must be told that the suspect may or may not be in the line-up in order to ensure the witness chooses one because they have to.
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