Sunny's AP Psychology Blog

Reconstructive Memory

We conducted an experiment in which we all looked at a list of shapes, 15 seconds per shape. After moving on to learning some other things for 20 minutes, we each got a piece of paper with cues to remembrance written down. the cues were varied, however, and they probably influenced the way people recalled those shapes. Comparing my paper with Mint's, I noticed that the cue 'bottle' caused her to change a stirrup shape into a trapezoid. My cue of the first eyeglassses shape was 'dumbell,' inducing me to draw a longer line between the circles.
I recalled the shapes accurately because I had paid attention to the little details and had formed a mental picture including all of the shapes, so was mislead very much by the cues. The interval between the viewing and the test was not very long, however, so most people accurately recalled all or most of the shapes. Perhaps if we were to be given this test again in a few days, we would be more noticeably influenced by the cues.
It's interesting how we can form new memories based upon what we feel to be likely. We thought that the cues would assist us, since we were not informed that this was a test on reconstructive memory, so probably trusted them, and based our recollections on those cues. I did too, until I encountered 'four' as a cue for 7.

posted by 미카 @ 12:08 PM