False Memory
False Memory
Cognitive Psychology
In false memory experiments, special distractors are variables that are included in a list of the experiment intending to distract the participant. In the false memory experiments there is usually a related distractor and an unrelated distractor (Arnold 2002). The subject is presented with a list of words , directly after the list disappears the subject is shown another list containing original words, related distractor words, and unrelated distractor words; they are asked to recall the words from the original list as either in the sequence or not in the sequence (Noblenet 2009). What happens is that most of the words are related to the distractor, and more than likely the subject thought about the distractor as the words were being shown. While doing the experiment I did report seeing words that were not on the original list. I believe the words that I inaccurately remembered were special distractors. In an instance a person mistakenly thought they remembered their doctor wearing a stethoscope around their neck when the doctor has a hearing impairment and clearly does not use a stethoscope this could be because of our false memory. When people think of doctors they automatically think of scrubs, booties, and a stethoscope. In this situation if the person didn’t really get a good look at the doctor they can conclude from their memory that in fact he had a stethoscope around his neck because that is what doctors do. Being in a hospital setting it would be easy to say that the doctor had a stethoscope around his neck because most of the people walking around the hospital have a stethoscope or name badge around their neck.
Eyewitness memory is important especially when dealing with criminal trials. It is important because trails rely on eyewitness memory as a crucial piece of evidence for their defense. Eyewitness testimony can have a huge impact on a jury, and the jury then decides whether or not they will take truth to
Cognitive Psychology
In false memory experiments, special distractors are variables that are included in a list of the experiment intending to distract the participant. In the false memory experiments there is usually a related distractor and an unrelated distractor (Arnold 2002). The subject is presented with a list of words , directly after the list disappears the subject is shown another list containing original words, related distractor words, and unrelated distractor words; they are asked to recall the words from the original list as either in the sequence or not in the sequence (Noblenet 2009). What happens is that most of the words are related to the distractor, and more than likely the subject thought about the distractor as the words were being shown. While doing the experiment I did report seeing words that were not on the original list. I believe the words that I inaccurately remembered were special distractors. In an instance a person mistakenly thought they remembered their doctor wearing a stethoscope around their neck when the doctor has a hearing impairment and clearly does not use a stethoscope this could be because of our false memory. When people think of doctors they automatically think of scrubs, booties, and a stethoscope. In this situation if the person didn’t really get a good look at the doctor they can conclude from their memory that in fact he had a stethoscope around his neck because that is what doctors do. Being in a hospital setting it would be easy to say that the doctor had a stethoscope around his neck because most of the people walking around the hospital have a stethoscope or name badge around their neck.
Eyewitness memory is important especially when dealing with criminal trials. It is important because trails rely on eyewitness memory as a crucial piece of evidence for their defense. Eyewitness testimony can have a huge impact on a jury, and the jury then decides whether or not they will take truth to
References: Arnold, M. M., & Lindsay, D. S. (2002). Remembering remembering. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 28, 521-529. Nobel net, May 11, 2009 Retrieved on July 30,2012 From : http://server1.noblenet.org/merrimack/wiki/index.php/False_Memory