The Cognitive Psychology Behind the movie 21 Jump Street

Based on the 1987 television show, 21 Jump Street follows the journey of Schmidt(Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum), two amateur cops who must redeem themselves and prove worthy of being legitimate police officers. After failing to arrest members of the local gang, the One Percenters, during their work in park patrol, Schmidt and Jenko are assigned to work in the specialized undercover division known as 21 Jump Street, and must pose as high school students in order to infiltrate a drug dealer. This comedy relates in many ways to cognitive psychology, as many aspects of the film exemplify important topics such as the seven sins of memory, types of memories, and problem-solving strategies. Schacter termed the various common failures of memory as the “seven sins” (Kellogg, 2007). The first sin is known as transience, referring to the deterioration of a specific memory over time. A great example of this from the film is when Jenko has a difficult time memorizing the wording of the Miranda rights. Even though he successfully graduated from the police academy, he still is not able to recall the precise wording, as this information failed to be transferred into long-term memory. When Schmidt and Jenko make their first arrest, the dynamic duo is beyond overjoyed, that they forget to read the perpetrator his Miranda Rights. The two are called into questioning by the chief of police, who tests Jenko on the spot. Jenko experienced transience, as he was unable to remember the information which he partially encoded. As a result, the suspect had to be released, as his rights were never presented to him. The second sin, absent-mindedness, refers to breakdowns in attention which prevent events from being encoded into short-term memories. Jenko and Schmidt, as a result of the failed arrest, are assigned to go undercover in the specialty division on 21 Jump Street. The duo is assigned to stop a new synthetic drug known as H.F.S, by finding the supplier. As part of their