132022 Using knowledge False memory Repressedrecovered memories Autobiographical

1/3/2022 • Using knowledge » False memory ◊ Repressed/recovered memories » Autobiographical memories ◊ Very Long Term Memory ◊ Real World Memories ◊ Emotion and Memories – - Flashbulb memories Study Questions. • According to research, what do you expect will happen to your knowledge of Cognitive Psychology over the next several years?

Using Knowledge • False Memory » In children <Video: Steve Ceci on children’s eye witness testimony>

Using Knowledge • False Memory » In children ◊ Day care sex abuse panic – Kern county (1982) • Accusations from mentally ill step grandmother -> No physical evidence • 2 couples sentenced to 240 years (overturned in 1996) • Spread through-out Kern county -> Six similar cases followed • Subject of the 2007 documentary “Witch Hunt”

Using Knowledge • False Memory » In children ◊ Day care sex abuse panic – Kern county (1982) <Video: Trailer for the documentary “Witch Hunt”>

Using Knowledge • False Memory » In children ◊ Day care sex abuse panic – Mc. Martin preschool trial (1983) • At the time, the most expensive criminal trial in U. S. history • A mother complained that a teacher (founder’s grandson) and her ex -husband had sodomized her son. -> based her belief on painful bowel movement -> Later diagnosed with paranoid shizophrenia she died of complications due to chronic alcoholism • Invited children to pretend about supposed events. -> Animal sacrifices, satanic worship, and orgies (held in carwashes), flying witches, children being flushed down the toilet. • 7 people, 321 charges, 48 children

Using Knowledge • False Memory » In children ◊ Day care sex abuse panic – Wee Care Nursery School (1985) • Child getting temperature checked with a rectal thermometer -> “That’s what my dare care teacher does at naptime. • Margaret Kelly Michaels indicted for 299 offenses in connection with the sexual assault of 33 children. • Coercive interviewing of children lead to bizarre claims -> “made us eat boiled babies, ” -> “she put a sword in my rectum, ” -> She “played piano naked. ” • Spent 7 years in prison before winning an appeal

Using Knowledge • False Memory » In children ◊ Day care sex abuse panic – Little Rascals Daycare (1989) • Snowballed out into the general public (7 people arrested) • Infanticide, Satanic rituals, sexual abuse, thrown into a pool of sharks, etc. • Accusations occurred after months of “therapy” sessions • Memories were ‘refreshed’ before the trial – Martensville satanic sex scandal (1992) • More than a dozen charged, including 5 police officers • Satanic cult called “The Brotherhood of the Ram” • Ritualized sexual abuse at “Devil Church”

Using Knowledge • False Memory » In children ◊ Day care sex abuse panic – Wenatchee sex ring (1994 -95) • Most extensive sexual abuse investigation in US history • 43 adults charged with 29, 726 offences • No physical evidence • Main witness was 13 year old daughter of an investigating police officer

Using Knowledge • False Memory » Implanted Memory ◊ Meeting Bugs Bunny at Disneyland ◊ Being lost in the mall ◊ Being abducted by aliens » Imagination Inflation ◊ Rated the likelihood that 40 events happened to them ◊ 2 weeks late, asked to imagine that they did happen ◊ Later responded to the original list

Using Knowledge • False Memory » Imagination Inflation

Using Knowledge • False Memory » Stronger memory distortions ◊ Repeated exposure ◊ Repeated recall of false information ◊ Repeated questioning ◊ Imagery/hypnosis ◊ Occur even when warned about them » Repressed and recovered memory ◊ False memory syndrome

Using Knowledge • False Memory » Repressed and recovered memory ◊ False memory syndrome – “The Courage To Heal” (1988) • Satanic ritualistic abuse chapter • Encouraged guided imagery, etc. – Beth Rutherford • Remembered during therapy that her clergyman father had -> regularly raped her between the ages of 7 and 14 -> twice impregnated her -> forced her to abort the fetus herself with a coat hanger • Court determined that she was still a virgin at age 22. -> $1, 000 settlement

Using Knowledge • Autobiographical Memory » Episodic vs. Autobiographical memory ◊ Autobiographical memory: The study of one’s lifetime collection of personal memories. ◊ The lab meets the real world – Ecological validity of cognitive research, revisited ◊ Pertinence of studying autobiographical memory – Refers to self – Contains memory for very long term events – Contains an emotional component

Using Knowledge • Autobiographical memory » And the self ◊ The self-reference effect ◊ Self schema – Facilitates retrieval – Biases retrieval

Using Knowledge • Autobiographical Memory » Very Long Term Memory ◊ Bahrick et al. (1975) – 400 participants aged 17 -74 yrs – Graduated between 2 wks and 57 yrs earlier - Various memory tasks concerning graduating high school class - Recognition & Matching • Names & pictures - Recall • Free and picture cued recall

Using Knowledge • Autobiographical Memory » Very Long Term Memory ◊ Bahrick et al. (1975): Recall

Using Knowledge • Autobiographical Memory » Very Long Term Memory ◊ Bahrick et al. (1975): Recognition

Using Knowledge • Autobiographical Memory » Very Long Term Memory ◊ VLTM for spanish (Bahrick, 1984) – Maintenance of Spanish over 50 years – 773 participants (learned Spanish in high school) – Tested on Reading comprehension Recall and recognition Vocabulary, grammar and idioms – Findings Sharpest decline in first 3 yrs Then stable for 30 yrs “permastore”

Using Knowledge • Autobiographical Memory » Very Long Term Memory ◊ VLTM for Cognitive Psychology (Conway et al. , 1991) – 373 students who completed Cog. Psych. course up to 12 years prior. – Tested on various items General and specific facts Names Research methods Concepts and concept grouping

Using Knowledge • Autobiographical Memory » Very Long Term Memory ◊ Recognitition (Conway et al. , 1991)

Using Knowledge • Autobiographical Memory » Very Long Term Memory ◊ Recall (Conway et al. , 1991)

Using Knowledge • Autobiographical Memory » Very Long Term Memory ◊ Real world memories – Linton (1982) - Episodic experiences over 6 yrs - Wrote down 2 or more events on a card every day - Every month randomly selected a card • Attempted to recall and set date - Found that forgetting was a linear function of time • 5 % drop in recall each year.

Using Knowledge • Autobiographical Memory » Very Long Term Memory ◊ Real world memories – Thematic life events (Schulster, 1989) Attended the Metropolitan Opera for 25 yrs. Attempted to recall 284 performances Found a recency and primacy effect “Significant” performances were better remembered

Using Knowledge • Autobiographical Memory » Very Long Term Memory ◊ Real world memories – Wagenaar, 1986 Recorded 2400 daily events over six years Four cue types: What/Who/Where/When/ Found pleasant events were better remembered at short intervals

Using Knowledge • Autobiographical Memory » Very Long Term Memory ◊ Memory and Emotion – Emotional events - Trigger amygdala, production of ACl - Consolidates memory - Raises overall arousal • i. e. , general processing resourses – Focusses attention • Central vs. peripheral remembering • “weapon focus”

Using Knowledge • Autobiographical Memory » Very Long Term Memory ◊ Memory and Emotion – Flashbulb memory Brown & Kulik (1977) • JFK assassination - People seem to remember a lot of detail, but is it accurate? - Neisser & Harsh (1992) • Interviewed students one day after Columbia explosion • Re-interviewed three years later, asking the same questions • Very little agreement with original answers Consequentiality, I. e. , personal relevance.

Using Knowledge • Autobiographical Memory » Very Long Term Memory ◊ Memory and Emotion – Flashbulb memory

Using Knowledge • Autobiographical Memory http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=evj 6 q 0 e. Cdd 8&feature=Pl ay. List&p=B 257 AB 1 FF 195 DCA 1&playnext=1&playnext_fr om=PL&index=13

Using Knowledge • Autobiographical Memory » Very Long Term Memory ◊ Memory and Emotion – Flashbulb memory Sharot et al. (2006) Selected New Yorkers who had been either Downtown (close to the attacks) or Midtown (further away from the Trade Centre While in an MRI scanner prompted to recall autobiographical memories from either “Summer” or “September”. After the session subjects rated the memories’ detail.

Fig. 1. Recollective experience and proximity to the WTC Sharot, Tali et al. (2007)

Using Knowledge • Autobiographical Memory » Very Long Term Memory – f. MRI results Measured Amygdala activity Looked at signal change from peak activity 2 X 2 design (where by when)

Fig. 2. Blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response and proximity to the WTC } Sharot, Tali et al. (2007) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 104, 389 -394 Decrease in posterior parahippocampal region Copyright © 2007 by the National Academy of Sciences Increase in amygdala (bilateral) Close to WTC