Psychology / Unit 6: Memory and Thinking
6.5 Reconstructive Memory and Reliability
Notes
Memory is not a perfect recording. It is reconstructive: we rebuild memories each time using bits and schemas.
- Elizabeth Loftus showed that wording of questions can change eyewitness memories ("smashed" vs "hit" changes speed estimates). This is the misinformation effect.
- Source amnesia is forgetting where information came from. False memories can feel real.
- Schemas are mental frameworks that shape what we notice and remember.
- Flashbulb memories of emotional events feel vivid but can still contain errors.
- Eyewitness confidence does not guarantee accuracy.
Practice
After hearing the question "How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?", witnesses guessed higher speeds than for "hit." This illustrates:
Wording of questions altered memory estimates (Loftus).
A person is sure he heard a fact from a doctor but actually read it online. This is:
Source amnesia is misremembering where information came from.
Which statement about memory is most accurate?
Memory is reconstructive and can be altered.
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