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reconstructive memory (Bartlett 1932) - Coggle Diagram
reconstructive memory (Bartlett 1932)
The idea that we alter information we have stored when we recall it, based on prior expectations/ knowledge.
Concepts
Not passive but 'constructive', previous knowledge is used to interpret new information. Memory is an imaginative reconstruction of events as we use previous experiences to fill in the blanks.
Schema
schemas are little snippets of information and representations on things that all relate to it and all ties to the main schema
For example, The schema of a 'restaurant' would include being waited on, eating food and other stuff that happens at a restaurant.
because of this schema if someone were recalling what happened last time they went to a restaurant they may incorrectly recall information based on experiences of restaurants previous to the one being recalled.
Perception
this is the idea that new memories are based on past experiences.
For example, Bartlett's study (Imagery recall tests) showed that participants made the ink blot that they were shown fit with previous experiences by giving them labels or a name which often shaped the following image that was drawn.
Imaging
imaging is influenced by an individuals interests and past experiences
For example in the ink blot test participan used 'effort after meaning' to describe how they attempted to connect a stimulus to experience meaning that they connected something that they were familiar with to the shape in order to recall it easier. As a stimulus gains meaning for the individual, it can be more readily assimilated and stored.
Remembering
when trying to remembe stuff we change things like words to suit words we are already familiar words or just forget non sense parts of the memory
In Bartlett's 'war of the ghosts' study a lot of participants remembered 'canoe' as 'boat' because in western culture boat is a more familiar word.
Supporting study - Bartlett(1932)
In this study titled "the war of the ghosts" students recalled a native American ghost story they changed words such as canoes to boats to make them more familiar.
This supports schemas as the ppts fill in gaps in there memory that they think is most realistic.
Narrow sample
The study was conducted only on students this is a very narrow sample
This means the evidence and the study as a whole can't be generalised to wider populations so the theory might not be useful to applications other than college students.
Confabulation
The process in which people replace unfamiliar information with familiar information is called confabulation.
Opposing study - Yuille and Cutshall (1986)
This was one of the few studies to use real life participants in EWT they found memory recall was considerably more accurate compared to what lab experiments would suggest.
Therefore in real life situations confabulation might not be as much of an issue as in lab experiments possibly due to the fact people have more of an emotional response so remember it better.
Rationalisation
rationalising a story to make unfeasible parts of the story more feasible for example rather than talking about ghosts they say a "battle"
Alternate theory - Working Memory Model
This theory is much better as it's information is based on quantitative objective data (baddley) rather than qualitative subjective data(Bartlett).
Working Memory Model (WMM)
A SPASM
Central Executive
Controls
A
ttention
S
ynthesises information from the senses & LTM
Has a major role in
P
lanning
It can
A
ttend to a limited number of things at once
It has a limited
S
torage capacity (1974); it has no storage capacity (2000)
It can process information in any
M
odality
Just a lil guy - Baddeley & Hitch describe the CE as being like a “little man” inside your head, organising your memories.
APOI
Phonological Loop
The
A
rticulatory control process (inner voice)
Allows subvocal repetition of the items in the phonological store
Is used when we read written material as we say it to ourselves
The
P
honological store (inner ear)
Briefly stores speech sounds (1.5 to 2 sec)
External speech enters it directly
Can only process
O
ne phonological task at a time
Operates
I
ndependently of the Visuo-spatial sketchpad
VSOI
Visuo-spatial Sketchpad
It is responsible for processing
V
isual and
S
patial information from the external world
Can only process
O
ne visual or spatial task at a time.
Can operate
I
ndependently of the phonological loop.
Phonological Loop (
PL
)
Baddeley et al. (1975) Did a study to determine capacity of the phonological loop where participants were asked to recall lists of long and short words in an STM task. They were also asked to undertake a reading task with long and short words.
The Study found that Participants could recall 78% of the five short word lists but only 29% of the five long word lists. They found Ps could recall as many words as they could read aloud in 1½ to 2 seconds.
This shows that he capacity of the phonological store is about 1½ to 2 seconds of speech. In that time we can say about 7 short and 3 long words.
The Episodic Buffer
Was added later to the OG model
Has a limited capacity of four items or chunks
It is multi-modal and binds together information from different sources: visual, spatial, verbal & memories from LTM, into a unitary episode
Is needed as none of the others stores hold an integrated memory of an event
Passive store
Baddeley & Wilson (2002) did a study where they Found a small number of densely amnesic patients could perform at a normal level on immediate recall of a prose passage, containing some 20 or more idea units, and hence considerably beyond verbal or spatial span. Such a passage would be approximately 100 words.
The study showed these patients were recalling much more information than could be held in the phonological loop. Hence another component was required.
The Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad (
VSS
)
Logie et al. (1989) did a study to investigate the independence of the VSS
In this study participants were asked to play a complex computer game, which involves manoeuvring a spaceship around a computer screen. At some points they were asked to complete another VSS task, sequential key tapping
The study found performance on The game was much worse when participants had to perform an additional visuo-spatial task at the same time
this Shows that the visuo-spatial sketchpad was needed for effective performance on the computer game and it was bad at handling two VSS tasks simultaneously
Inner Scribe
which creates and manipulates images and
Visual Cache
which holds images very briefly (< 1sec?).
The Central Executive (
CE
)
Baddeley (1968) did a study to determine whether the central executive is capable of handling two tasks at the same time.
In the study participants had to do two tasks simultaneously. One was a reasoning task designed to occupy the central executive. and the other was either a PL task, a loop and CE task or no task.
The study found that Participants were slower answering the reasoning task when the second task involving both the CE and the PL. Speed on the reason task was the same whether the participant did no extra task or the simple articulatory loop task.
This showed that doing two tasks that involve the CE Is difficult. It also shows that, when different components are used, performance is not affected.
E
vidence
The KF Case Study supports Working Memory cuz KF suffered brain damage from a motorcycle accident that damaged his short-term memory. KF struggled to process verbal information but his visual memory was unaffected. This shows that visual information (VSSP) is processed separately from verbal information (phonological loop).
The idea of the little guy and the inner scribe are quite easy to understand and match up with what it feels like when we remember things So it has face validity. The model has also been backed up by brain scanning which shows acoustic and visual encoding going on in different parts of the brain.
L
imitations
Despite providing more detail of STM than the multi-store model, the WMM has been criticized for being too simplistic and vague. It's unclear what the central executive is, or its exact role in attention.
Results from laboratory experiments researching the WMM will often have low ecological validity (i.e. may not relate to real life), as tasks such as repeating ‘the the the’ are arguably not representative of our everyday activities.
The three main components of the working memory model interact with each other in the performance of tasks but it is not clear how this happens in practice.
The model is concerned with memory. but, it tells us very little about long-term memory and the ways in which processing in the working memory system relate to the long-term storage of information. It is as uninformative as the multi-store model in this respect.
The episodic buffer is seen as a helpful addition to the model of working memory, but it has not been investigated extensively and its functions remain unclear.
A
pplications
WMM is similar to the MSMM.and i can be said that Working Memory is a development of the MSM, with Working Memory replacing the STM Store. It’s still a linear model of memory, with the idea of information coming from the senses to the Sensory Store, being processed in Working Memory then encoded into LTM, from which is can be retrieved by the Central Executive.
Working Memory tells us how to improve our memory in some situations. If you have to encode something in one particular way then remove competing information. However, it suggests you can concentrate on two differently coded sources at once – so you can do revision by copying a mind map while listening to a podcast.
The model may have application to helping people with dementia. Using the Episodic Buffer seems to help people who cannot encoded memories in LTM or have trouble retrieving LTM. This means using Cognitive Stimulation: playing an old song and asking the patient to tell the story of how they first heard it.
Subjectivity/Objectivity
Reconstructive memory is an objective theory as it is based on experimental research, e.g. Bartlett 'War of Ghosts' study. This means the theory can be considered as scientific because findings of studies are not based on interpretation, which makes the theory factual.
Application to real life:
We can apply this theory to eyewitness. We can advise the police that human memory in reconstruction is inaccurate. When we reconstruct an event schemas and stereotypes create our recall to be wrong. The police have developed the cognitive interview to help accuracy in recall.
Reliabilty
The theory can be tested for reliability because there are lots of lab based studies that support the idea of humans being inaccurate in reconstruction. These studies have tight controls and use standardised procedures, which means the studies can be replicated again and again and similar results can be found.
Validity
Lacks ecological validity because studies that the theory is based on use artificial settings and tasks, e.g. Memory tests of recalling stories. These tasks are unrealistic of memory, which means the theory does not represent real life.
However, the theory has internal validity as it is based on lab experiments that can establish cause and effect. Therefore, measuring what it is supposed to measure, e.g. Reconstructing memory memory events is inaccurate.
