Psyc 1002

Dr Caleb Owens
Cognitive Processes
Lecture 5 :
Implicit memory and false memory

CONTENT WARNING: Towards the very end of this lecture (after

flashbulb memories), recovered memories of childhood sexual assault
may be discussed.
From Weiten 2007, Psychology Themes and V
 Memory

Explicit Implicit
Memory Memory
Declarative, Nondeclarative,
Conscious Unconscious

Episodic Semantic Classical Procedural Priming

Memory Memory conditioning Memory Implicit
Experiences Facts, effects Motor skills, activation of
General e.g. habits, tacit concepts in
Knowledge Conditioned rules long-term
emotional memory
reactions

Adapted from: Psychology by

Why can Clive Wearing Peter Gray, p.356, 2003 (4th
speak and play the piano? Edition)
 Implicit memory: Classical
conditioning and priming
• Unconscious associations between stimuli
– Dentists drill - > pain -> anxiety

• Priming
– Display or mention of one concept leads to ‘spreading
activation’ to other related concepts
E.g.
“Money, withdraw, robbery” / “River, flow, boat”
• Probe: “He walked towards the bank”
 Procedural memory
• DECLARATIVE MEMORY (Explicit)
– Semantic memory
– Episodic memory

• PROCEDURAL MEMORY (Implicit)

– Memory for how to do things
– not verbalisable, not available to conscious awareness
– learnt through gradual, incremental experience; not “one-
trial” learning
– operates automatically; does not need conscious
attention and may be disrupted by attention
– like a compiled version of computer program (in the
“machine code” of the brain?)
Levels of processing and memory
• More on this in the next lecture
• Know that in general, more “deeply”
processed stimuli are better remembered
than stimuli processed in a “shallow”
manner
• E.g.
– Is this word in capital letters?
– Does it rhyme with train?
– Does it fit into this sentence…?

Source: p.277 of Weiten, 2012

Explicit and Implicit Memory Tasks
• Explicit memory tasks
– Eg. Free recall and recognition
– Subjects explicitly told to remember items
from previous list  engage in intentional
retrieval
Explicit and Implicit Memory Tasks
• Implicit memory tasks
– NOT told to try to remember, just to perform a
task
– E.g. fragment completion, stem completion,
perceptual identification
–  implicit memory demonstrated when
participants more likely to complete or identify
Old than New items
 Implicit memory performance is
different from explicit memory
– Implicit memory NOT better for more deeply processed
items e.g. memory can be better following perceptual than
semantic encoding

– Implicit memory but not explicit memory better when

same stimulus modality/format at encoding and retrieval

– Implicit memory better preserved over delay

– Implicit memory preserved in amnesic patients with very

poor explicit memory
EXPLANATIONS OF DISSOCIATIONS BETWEEN EXPLICIT AND IMPLICIT MEMORY

Different memory systems?

– Different neuroanatomical structures underlie
implicit and explicit memory?

– Declarative vs Procedural (Squire, 1987)

• BUT in what sense does fragment completion rely
on procedural memory?

– Tendency to create MORE memory systems

to account for new dissociations
 EXPLANATIONS OF DISSOCIATIONS BETWEEN EXPLICIT AND IMPLICIT MEMORY

Different memory processes ?

– Implicit and explicit memory tasks involve
different encoding processes and therefore
benefit from different retrieval processes

– Memory depends on match between

encoding and retrieval: perceptual vs
conceptual
PERCEPTUAL CONCEPTUAL
ENCODING Activation Elaboration
RETRIEVAL Familiarity Recollection
 
IMPLICIT EXPLICIT
Transfer MEMORY MEMORY
appropriate
processing
 False Memory
• Misleading ‘post-event’ information

– Eyewitness “Misinformation paradigm” Loftus (1974)

– leading questions and wording of questions

– misleading information integrated with original

memory and permanently “overwrites” it

• Social pressure (lost in a shopping mall)

 False Memory
• Fitting memory to Schemas and Scripts

• Source confusion
• Hypnosis improves confidence
– but not memory

• Memory errors can be made to items

activated through “spreading activation” in
semantic memory (Roediger & McDermott,
1995)
 Flashbulb memories

• People have very vivid and detailed memories

surrounding dramatic world events
– Are these memories really more accurate?

• Yes, a special neural mechanism is activated

(Brown & Kulik, 1977)

• But aren’t they rehearsed more frequently?

 Flashbulb memories
• Neisser (1982) recalled vividly hearing the baseball on
the radio being interrupted by the news of the bombing
of Pearl Harbour
• Bohannon (1988) tested people’s memory for the
Challenger disaster and found 77% recall after two
weeks, 58% recall after eight months
– But this was mediated by emotional impact
• Emotions led to a different kind of encoding?
• Emotionally affected people rehearsed the memory of hearing the
news more often?
• More recent research suggests we are more confident
about flashbulb memories, but they decay just like
other memories (Weaver, 1993)
Talarico and Rubin
(2003) estimated the
accuracy of
participants’ flashbulb
memories of the 9/11
terrorist attacks (and
their selected
everyday memories)
by comparing the
details of their
original memories
against their
memories reported 1,
6, or 32 weeks later.
This graph shows
that the number of
consistent details in
subjects’ flashbulb
memories and
everyday memories
declined at the same
pace, suggesting that
flashbulb memories
are not more
accurate or longer
lasting than other
memories. (Data
from Talarico &
Rubin, 2003)

Text and graph from Weiten 2007, Psychology Theme

 Flashbulb memories
Study on September 11th memories by Conway,
Skitka, Hemmerich and Kershaw (2009)

– In 2001 678 people completed a survey between

September and October
– In 2002 half were retested before the anniversary
and half were tested after
– In 2003 a final survey was given (to the remaining
319 participants)
• Each survey asked for recollections and confidence
ratings for each
Findings of Conway et al. (2009). Table from Applied Cognitive
Psychology, 23, p.609 (C=consistency; CR=confidence rating)
Findings of Conway et al. (2009). Table from Applied Cognitive
Psychology, 23, p.615
 Confabulation
• You have no intention to deceive, but you
are unaware that you have provided
incorrect information (often despite high
confidence).
• A ‘filling in’ of the blanks (like not noticing
the blind spot in perception)
• Reasons:
– Preserve self image, image of control,
completeness, coherence
– Errors in retrieval accompanied by errors in
monitoring (frontal lobe issues)
With the help of a church counsellor, this man’s daughter “recalled” childhood
memories of being raped repeatedly by him (a church minister), becoming pregnant,
and suffering a forced abortion. He lost his job and was ostracized. After he later
revealed he’d had a vasectomy when Beth was age 4, and a physical exam
revealed that at age 23 she was still a virgin, the memories were shown to be false.
From Weiten 2007, Psychology Themes an
 “Recovered” memories
• ‘Recovered’ under hypnosis or via strong
therapist suggestions
– “Think carefully, let your feelings guide you, your body
can remember… “
• Be wary of:
– People claiming that memories are true or false on
the basis of the nature of the memory
• E.g. “I remember smells and actual sounds, so it must be
true…”
– People associating a current disorder with previous
experiences
• You have an eating disorder so you were probably abused as
a child / abducted by an alien / belonged to a satanic cult /
did something bad in a previous life….
– Elizabeth Loftus video describes implantation of false
memories
 “Recovered” memories
• This was a highly controversial topic, see:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recovered-memory_therapy
• http://www.fmsfonline.org/
• http://pss.sagepub.com/content/25/2/519
• Memory is a constructive and reconstructive process. What is
remembered about an event is shaped by what was observed of
that event, by conditions prevailing during attempts to remember,
and by events occurring between the observation and the attempted
remembering. Memories can be altered, deleted, and created by
events that occur during and after the time of encoding, and during
the period of storage, and during any attempts at retrieval.
• "Memories" that are reported either spontaneously or following the
use of special procedures in therapy may be accurate, inaccurate,
fabricated, or a mixture of these. The presence or absence of detail
in a memory report does not necessarily mean that it is accurate or
inaccurate. The level of belief in memory or the emotion associated
with the memory does not necessarily relate directly to the accuracy
of the memory. The available scientific and clinical evidence does
not allow accurate, inaccurate, and fabricated memories to be
distinguished in the absence of independent corroboration.
• Just as psychologists should be familiar with this evidence, so
should they recognize that reports of abuse long after the events are
reported to have occurred are difficult to prove or disprove in the
majority of cases. Independent corroboration of the statements of
those who make or deny such allegations is typically difficult, if not
impossible. Accordingly, psychologists should exercise special care
in dealing with clients, their family members, and the wider
community when allegations of past abuse are made.
Originally from: http://www.fmsfonline.org/