The Fallibility of Memory
The Fallibility of Memory
Psychology 111 section 034 April 6, 2011
Introduction:
One of the most often told anecdotes in psychology concerns a man called A.J. whose memory is virtually perfect. However, if you are like most people, you will probably have the experience of recalling memory that you considered to be so vivid and accurate but was actually false. This phenomenon is called Memory Illusion. Most memory illusions are by-products of our brain’s generally adaptive tendency to go beyond the information it has at its disposal. (Lillienfeld et al., 1999).
This experiment goes beyond the surface of Memory illusion and examines the factors that might have affected that, for example, race. In order to find out whether race is a factor in memory recall, I tested 10 Asian students who are currently taking class in this university. These 10 people were asked to listen to 8 lists of words and wrote down the words they remembered immediately after each list. The goal is to find if difference in race influences the result.
Due to the limitless of time and number of participants, this experiment doesn’t turn out to be what we expected. Whether race influences memory illusion remains mysterious. If the experiment can be expanded, an addition control group or diversity of races may help prove the influence of race. However, during the experiment, the data shows that whether participants are using their primary language influences the result. The two experiment based on different languages proves this point.
Hypothesis:
Race is a factor in memory recall. Asian students will have a very accurate memory when compared to their American counterparts.
Methods:
I developed my hypothesis by finding 10 Chinese students, five males and five females between age 18 and 21.
Psychology 111 section 034 April 6, 2011
Introduction:
One of the most often told anecdotes in psychology concerns a man called A.J. whose memory is virtually perfect. However, if you are like most people, you will probably have the experience of recalling memory that you considered to be so vivid and accurate but was actually false. This phenomenon is called Memory Illusion. Most memory illusions are by-products of our brain’s generally adaptive tendency to go beyond the information it has at its disposal. (Lillienfeld et al., 1999).
This experiment goes beyond the surface of Memory illusion and examines the factors that might have affected that, for example, race. In order to find out whether race is a factor in memory recall, I tested 10 Asian students who are currently taking class in this university. These 10 people were asked to listen to 8 lists of words and wrote down the words they remembered immediately after each list. The goal is to find if difference in race influences the result.
Due to the limitless of time and number of participants, this experiment doesn’t turn out to be what we expected. Whether race influences memory illusion remains mysterious. If the experiment can be expanded, an addition control group or diversity of races may help prove the influence of race. However, during the experiment, the data shows that whether participants are using their primary language influences the result. The two experiment based on different languages proves this point.
Hypothesis:
Race is a factor in memory recall. Asian students will have a very accurate memory when compared to their American counterparts.
Methods:
I developed my hypothesis by finding 10 Chinese students, five males and five females between age 18 and 21.