Memory is not a tape recorder or a camera: Constructive processes in memory

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Memory is not a tape recorder (or a camera)
Constructive processes in memory

• Mental representations in memory are
  constructions based on inferences

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There is an interesting story about the
telescope. In Holland, a man named Lippershey was
an eye-glass maker. One day his children were
playing with some lenses. They discovered that
things seemed very close if two lenses were held
about a foot apart. Lippershey began
experimenting and his spyglass attrcated much
attention. He sent a letter about it to Galileo,
the great Italian scientist. Galileo at once
realized the importance of the discovery and set
abpout to build an instrument of his own. He used
an old organ pipe with one lense curved out and
the other curved in
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Recognition 4 alternatives

• a. He sent Galileo, the great Italian scientist,
  a letter about it.B. Galileo, the great Italian
  scientist, sent him a letter about it.c. A
  letter about it was sent to Galileo, the great
  Italian scientist.d. He sent a letter about it
  to Galileo, the great Italian scientist.

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• Immediate recognition Participants recognized
  surface and meaning changes and rejected
• After brief delay Participants rejected only
  meaning change. No preference among verbatim and
  surface changes

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• Suggests
• -verbatim account decays from memory rapidly
• -we store gist or meaning and reconstruct from
  that

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Good recognition of changes in meaning, but are
we aware of changes from inferences?

• Meaning is not in words it is not fixed meaning
  is in people's heads.
• Comprehension is not a simple process of
  retrieval of word meaning together with the
  relations specified by the grammatical structure
  of the sentence.
• Comprehension is a process of active
  construction.

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Meaning is constructed-from the linguistic
knowledge associated with the input (automatic
semantic priming) - from the linguistic context
(inferences, schema)- from the nonlinguistic
context (e.g., who is making the statement, where
it is being said, and when it is being said.
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Automatic semantic priming

• Activation of words not presented
• memory illusions (Roedigger McDermott
  differences among individuals)
• Inferences (e.g., implied instruments)
• John was pounding the nail to fix the birdhouse
• Remembered as
• John was using a hammer to fix the birdhouse

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Brewer (1977) influence of linguistic
context11 out of 13 subjects, when presented
with the sentence The hungry python caught the
mouse recalled it as The hungry python ate the
mouse. Meaning of words depends on linguistic
context and previous knowledge (when hungry
pythons catch their prey, they eat it). This
knowledge automatically included in memory
representation.
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Important distinction between Logical and
Pragmatic implicationJohn forced Bill to rob
the bank.Bill robbed the bankThe absent-minded
professor did not have his car keys.The
absent-minded professor forgot his car keys.
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Harris (1977)

• Zap Pills may help relieve pain
• Glow gives you a brighter smile
• Get through the winter without colds take
  Eradicold Pills
• In a recent survey over 50 doctors recommended
  IQ-enhancer

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• As you read these commercials, be careful that
  you do not interpret implied information as fact.
  Sometimes people, including advertisers trying to
  sell products, will not state a claim directly as
  an asserted fact, but rather will only strongly
  imply that a particular claim is true. You may
  infer that the advertiser has said something
  about his product which in fact he has only
  suggested. But he has suggested it in such a way
  that it is very easy for you to naturally,
  obviously, and normally expect the claim to be
  true. For example, consider the commercial,
  Moomoo milk tastes great. Keep your family
  healthy. Buy Moomoo milk. This commercial does
  not directly state that Moomoo milk keeps your
  family healthy it only suggests that. Sometimes,
  however, a commercial does directly state a fact
  without uncertainty. Consider this example
  Moomoo milk tastes great and it keeps your
  family healthy. Buy Moomoo milk. In this case,
  it directly states that Moomoo milk keeps your
  family healthy it is more than merely implied.
  Keep this distinction in mind as you read the
  commercials.

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CONDITION ASSERTION IMPLICATION Concurrent
Regular instructions 9.67 8.17 Extra
Instructions 9.10 5.40 Immediate Regular
Instructions 8.80 7.80 Extra Instructions 7.27
5.33 Delayed Regular Instructions 8.13
8.07 Extra Instructions 8.10 7.43 Harris'
(1977) Average Number of True Responses to
Assertions and Implications.
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Significance for eyewitness testimony (Loftus)

• View 5-30 sec film of traffic accident
• About how fast were the cars going when they
  ______ each other
• Smashed 40.8 mph
• Collided 39.3 mph
• Bumped 38.1 mph
• Hit 34.0 mph
• Contacted 31.8 mph

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Week later, participants returned to lab and were
asked if they saw any broken glass

• YES out of 50
• Smashed 16
• Hit 7
• Control 6
• (there was no broken glass)

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Constructive processes explains unreliability of
eyewitness accounts Suggestibility and
misinformation effect

• Remember as fact information implied but not
  stated, e.g., leading questions
• Memory affected by stored knowledge (Allport)
• Memory illusions, e.g., innocent people in mug
  shots selected in line up. Poor memory for
  context
• Inability to distinguish imagined and real events

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