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Reconstructive memory - Coggle Diagram
Reconstructive memory
Barlett explains how memory is never an entirely faithful and accurate account of events- it undergoes distortion and transformation at both encoding and retrieval
Memory is active and reconstructive by nature- not complete and always being added to with a fragmented input
at recall, these fragements are combined into a meaningful whole
Schemas are mental representations of objects or concepts, as well as scripts of what we expect from a certain situation- that help us to make sense of the world- they influence on memories at both encoding and retrieval
Existing schemas contain information- when we access new information, we expect it to match with what we already have contained in our schemas- if it doesn't, we may fail to encode it since we do not expect it and therefore it does not register in our memory
When we access new info, the relevant schema is activated
we expect the new info to fit into what is already contained within the schema- often distorting and changing elements to make them more cohesive to what is in the schema rather than accommodating the new ifnromation
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Bartlett's War of the Ghosts study- presented 20 British ppts with a Native American story and asked them to recall the story- each read for 15 minutes then asked to recall
Their reproduction of the story was then passed onto the next ppt to read- called serial reproduction based on the structure of Chinese Whispers
He found that the story underwent transformation, with certain Native American details omitted, the story became a lot shorter, and some elements were changed and distorted to suit the ppt Westernised culture
The British ppts did not have the right schemas that they needed to access and understand the story- so they instead used their Westernised schemas to change some elements to try and make it more conventional and coherent with their own culture
i.e. canoes were changed to boats
The ppts reconstructed the story in effort after a meaning- trying to change elements to make sense of the story and so that it fit with what they stored within their schemas
Since the Native American elements did not fit into the info within their schemas, the ppts failed to encode it as it did not register in their memories- so these elements such as seal hunting were missed out
However, interestingly, a large proportion of ppts remembered the unusual line "Something black came out of his mouth" which goes against the theory- it would not have fit with the schemas of the ppts yet they still remembered it- suggest that not all memory is distorted and changed
Schemas act to fill in gaps within our memory, and even sometimes put pressure on us to recall elements that fit with our schemas and assimilate others
War of the Ghosts has been criticised based on a lack of objectivity or control of variables- lack of standardisation resulted in inconsistent experiences of each ppt and therefore a different basis for results- so limits the reliability and scientific credibility as supporting evidence
In everyday life, we use out existing schemas to change elements of our memories, and fill in gaps using information within the schemas, which allows us to make sense of new infromation
However: at the same time, memories are changed and distorted as elements are replaced resulting in inaccuracy and unfaithful memories
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Loftus and Palmer also conducted a laboratory experiment testing reconstructive memory theory in the form of leading questions- investigating the effect that leading questions and different verb choices had on the ppts recollection of a staged event
Ppts were exposed to a staged car accident and then asked a leading question where the verb choice changed each time as the IV: "at what speed were the cars travelling at when they smashed/hit into each other?"
The verbs "smashed" and "hit" have every different connotations- with "smashed" connoting a higher speed
Results showed that leading questions can act to reconstruct ppt memories- the different verbs used also activated different schemas, changing the ppts recollection of the speed each time
Smashed- 41 mph
Hit- 34 mph
L and P therefore tested reconstructive memory in a more testable and reliable way than Bartlett- although tested the theory once more
Higher standardisation and good control of variables