With reference to relevant research studies, to what extent is one cognitive process reliable? (22 marks)
Command term "TO WHAT EXTENT" - consider the merits or otherwise of an argument or concept. Opinions and conclusions should be presented clearly and supported with appropriate evidence.
INTRODUCTION
Some factors that may affect the reliability of memory include emotions and schemas.
Emotional distortions to memories frequently occur, especially if the emotion is highly negative. Schemas frequently produce distortions in memory because we use schemas to rationalise information according to our own experiences, which may or may not be incorrect.
The reliability of memory is highly important in eye-witness testimonies that must be given in court. False convictions based on faulty testimonies can be devastating.
MAIN BODY
Schemas
Schemas can be unreliable
Loftus - memories can be distorted in the process of retrieving them
Eyewitnesses reconstruct memories based on schemas
Based on Bartlett's Theory of Reconstructive Memory (Schema Theory)
Humans are active information processors
The theory explains memory distortions
Schemas that are stored in the LTM are used to fill in gaps of memories when they are recalled into the STM
People have to encode memories to get them into the LTM
Memories are often stored in a way so that they make sense to the person
This is demonstrated in Bartlett's War of the Ghosts study, where White-Americans use their own cultural upbringings to rationalise culturally-unfamiliar elements of the story
STUDY: Loftus and Palmer - Schemas
AIM: to see if changing the verb used in the leading question had an effect on speed estimations
PROCEDURE - Participants were shown a clip of a car crash - They were asked to estimate the speed of the cars when they “smashed / collided / bumped / hit / contacted”
FINDINGS - Speed estimates varied, with “gentler” words (contacted, hit, bumped) resulting in lower speeds
CONCLUSION - The use of different words activates different schemas in each participants’ memory - The schema of the word “smashed” will make the participant think of higher speeds, and makes the participant think that the event is more severe when compared to “contacted”
This study seems to indicate that memory is not very reliable. However, memory can be reliable in the presence of emotions.
Flashbulb Memory (FBM)
Developed by Brown and Kulik
Suggests that memory is stronger when there is an emotional impact, if it is relevant to oneself, and has consequences on one's life
When an event is highly emotional, there may be very detailed recall of it
The term "flashbulb" is used as it indicates the level of detail in the memory - as if the flashbulb of a camera is going off
In terms of eyewitness testimonies, a crime would have to have an emotional impact in order to be more detailed (leading to flashbulb, rather than reconstructive)
Emotional memories are more reliable as they are stored separately in the amygdala rather than the hippocampus
Brown and Kulik also hypothesised that a specialised neural mechanism exists in the brain which stores information permanently in a memory system devoted solely to FBMs
STUDY: Brown and Kulik - Flashbulb Memory
AIM: to investigate whether events with an emotional connection are remembered better
PROCEDURE: - Interviewed 80 participants: 40 White Americans and 40 African Americans - Had to answer questions about 10 events: 9 were assassinations / attempts of well-known American personalities - Last event was self-selected out of personal events (e.g. death of family member) - Asked how much they rehearsed the events overtly (discussing with others) or covertly (private rehearsing / ruminating)
FINDINGS - Found the assassination of JFK lead to the most flashbulb memories (90%) - African Americans recalled more FBMs about civil rights leaders more than White Americans (e.g. Martin Luther King) - For last event, most participants recalled shocking events e.g. death of a perent
CONCLUSION - Supported FBM theory in that
FBMs form in situations where we encounter surprising / highly emotional information
Maintained by overt and covert rehearsal
Differ from other memories in that they are more detailed, accurate, and they last longer
FINDINGS - Participants had vivid memories of events that were surprising / highly emotional - Maintained by overt and covert rehearsal - Are more detailed, last longer, more consistent than other memories
EVALUATION - High ecological validity - recollection of real event - People might interpret from their current perspective and not in the highly emotional context in which the memory was formed - Emotions may make memories less reliable
Memory is reliable in the following ways:
Can be reliable if emotional, as supported by Brown and Kulik's FBM theory and flashbulb study
May mean that eyewitness testimonies can be reliable
But are not reliable because:
Memory is a reconstructive process, every time a memory is recalled it is distorted / changed
We fill in gaps in STM with pre-existing information in schemas (Bartlett)
Schemas can be activated through the use of leading questions (Loftus and Palmer Car Crash Study)
Strong emotional responses to memories may lead to denial or repression (Freud - repression in order to protect ego)
Biological factors may effect reliability of memory - Clive Wearing's brain damage
Situational factors - stress of being in court may affect retrieval of information