Reconstructive memory: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 22:52, 30 August 2021

Revision as of 08:57, 16 September 2021

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683–725. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press</ref>

In this manner, the various features of the experience must be joined together to form a coherent representation of the episode.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite journal|last1=Hemmer|first1=Pernille|last2=Steyvers|first2=Mark|date=2009|title=A Bayesian Account of Reconstructive Memory|journal=Topics in Cognitive Science|language=en|volume=1|issue=1|pages=189–202|doi=10.1111/j.1756-8765.2008.01010.x|pmid=25164805|issn=1756-8765}}</ref> If this binding process fails, it can result in [[memory error]]s. The complexity required for reconstructing some episodes is quite demanding and can result in incorrect or incomplete recall.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Torres-Trejo|first1=Frine|last2=Cansino|first2=Selene|date=2016-06-30|title=The Effects of the Amount of Information on Episodic Memory Binding|journal=Advances in Cognitive Psychology|volume=12|issue=2|pages=79–87|doi=10.5709/acp-0188-z|pmid=27512526|pmc=4975570|issn=1895-1171|doi-access=free}}</ref> This complexity leaves individuals susceptible to phenomena such as the [[misinformation effect]] across subsequent recollections.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Kiat|first1=John E.|last2=Belli|first2=Robert F.|date=2017-05-01|title=An exploratory high-density EEG investigation of the misinformation effect: Attentional and recollective differences between true and false perceptual memories|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1074742717300606|journal=Neurobiology of Learning and Memory|language=en|volume=141|pages=199–208|doi=10.1016/j.nlm.2017.04.007|issn=1074-7427|pmid=28442391|s2cid=4421445}}</ref> By employing reconstructive processes, individuals supplement other aspects of available personal knowledge and schema into the gaps found in episodic memory in order to provide a fuller and more coherent version, albeit one that is often distorted.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Frisoni|first1=Matteo|last2=Di Ghionno|first2=Monica|last3=Guidotti|first3=Roberto|last4= Tosoni|first4=Annalisa|last5=Sestieri|first5=Carlo|date=2021|title=Reconstructive Nature of Temporal Memory for Movie Scenes|journal=Cognition|volume=208|pages=104557|doi=10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104557|pmid=33373938|s2cid=229539467}}</ref>

Many errors can occur when attempting to retrieve a specific episode. First, the retrieval cues used to initiate the search for a specific episode may be too similar to other experiential memories and the retrieval process may fail if the individual is unable to form a specific description of the unique characteristics of the given memory they would like to retrieve.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Burgess | first1 = PW | last2 = Shallice | first2 = T | year = 1996 | title = Confabulation and the control of recollection | journal = Memory | volume = 4 | issue = 4| pages = 359–411 | doi = 10.1080/096582196388906 | pmid = 8817460 }}</ref> When there is little available distinctive information for a given episode there will be more overlap across multiple episodes, leading the individual to recall only the general similarities common to these memories. Ultimately proper recall for a desired target memory fails due to the interference of non-target memories that are activated because of their similarity.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

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Recent research using neuro-imaging technology including [[Positron emission tomography|PET]] and [[Functional magnetic resonance imaging|fMRI scanning]] has shown that there is an extensive amount of distributed brain activation during the process of episodic encoding and retrieval. Among the various regions, the two most active areas during the constructive processes are the [[medial temporal lobe]] (including the [[hippocampus]]) and the [[prefrontal cortex]].<ref name="schacter">{{cite journal | last1 = Schacter | first1 = DL | last2 = Norman | first2 = KA | last3 = Koutstaal | first3 = W | year = 1998 | title = The Cognitive Neuroscience of Constructive Memory | journal = Annual Review of Psychology | volume = 49 | pages = 289–318 | doi=10.1146/annurev.psych.49.1.289| pmid = 9496626 }}</ref> The Medial Temporal lobe is especially vital for encoding novel events in episodic networks, with the Hippocampus acting as one of the central locations that acts to both combine and later separate the various features of an event.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Tulving | first1 = E | author-link2 = Hans Markowitsch | last2 = Markowitsch | first2 = H.J. | last3 = Kapur | first3 = S | last4 = Habib | first4 = R | last5 = Houle | first5 = S. | year = 1994 | title = Novelty encoding networks in the human brain: positron emission tomography data | journal = NeuroReport | volume = 5 | issue = 18| pages = 2525–28 | doi=10.1097/00001756-199412000-00030| pmid = 7696595 }}</ref><ref name="mcclelland">McClelland JL, McNaughton BL, O’Reilly RC. 1995. [https://web.archive.org/web/20170915023549/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/57f1/16f3e6780424463cc8416ce755a72f873aa9.pdf Why There Are Complementary Learning Systems in the Hippocampus and Neocortex: Insights from the Successes and Failures of Connectionist Models of Learning and Memory]. Psychology Review 102:419–57</ref> Most popular research holds that the Hippocampus becomes less important in long term memory functioning after more extensive consolidation of the distinct features present at the time of episode encoding has occurred. In this way long term episodic functioning moves away from the CA3 region of the Hippocampal formation into the neocortex, effectively freeing up the CA3 area for more initial processing.<ref name="mcclelland" />

Studies have also consistently linked the activity of the Prefrontal Cortex, especially that which occurs in the right hemisphere, to the process of retrieval.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Tulving | first1 = E | last2 = Kapur | first2 = S | last3 = Markowitsch | first3 = HJ | last4 = Craik | first4 = FIM | last5 = Habib | first5 = R | display-authors = et al | year = 1994 | title = Neuroanatomical Correlates of Retrieval in Episodic Memory: Auditory Sentence Recognition | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA | volume = 91 | issue = 6| pages = 2012–15 | doi=10.1073/pnas.91.6.2012| pmid = 8134341 | pmc = 43299 | bibcode = 1994PNAS...91.2012T | doi-access = free }}</ref> The Prefrontal cortex appears to be utilized for executive functioning primarily for directing the focus of attention during retrieval processing, as well as for setting the appropriate criterion required to find the desired target memory.<ref name="schacter" />

==Applications==

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Anxiety is a state of distress or uneasiness of mind caused by fear<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dictionary.com/browse/anxiety|title=Anxiety - Define Anxiety at Dictionary.com}}</ref> and it is a consistently associated with witnessing crimes. In a study done by Yuille and Cutshall (1986), they discovered that witnesses of real-life violent crimes were able to remember the event quite vividly even five months after it originally occurred.<ref name="simplypsych"/> In fact, witnesses to violent or traumatic crimes often self-report the memory as being particularly vivid. For this reason, [[eyewitness memory]] is often listed as an example of [[flashbulb memory]].

However, in a study by Clifford and Scott (1978), participants were shown either a film of a violent crime or a film of a non-violent crime. The participants who viewed the stressful film had difficulty remembering details about the event compared to the participants that watched the non-violent film.<ref name="simplypsych" /> In a study by Brigham et al. (2010), subjects who experienced an electrical shock were less accurate in facial recognition tests, suggesting that some details were not well remembered under stressful situations.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Brigham|first1=John C.|last2=Maass|first2=Anne|last3=Martinez|first3=David|last4=Whittenberger|first4=Gary|date=1983-09-01|title=The Effect of Arousal on Facial Recognition|journal=Basic and Applied Social Psychology|volume=4|issue=3|pages=279–293|doi=10.1207/s15324834basp0403_6|issn=0197-3533}}</ref> In fact, in the case of the phenomena known as [[weapon focus]], eyewitnesses to stressful crimes involving weapons may perform worse during suspect identification.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Fawcett|first1=Jonathan M.|last2=Peace|first2=Kristine A.|last3=Greve|first3=Andrea|date=2016-09-01|title=Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun: What Do We Know About the Weapon Focus Effect?|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211368116300699|journal=Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition|language=en|volume=5|issue=3|pages=257–263|doi=10.1016/j.jarmac.2016.07.005|issn=2211-3681|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Further studies on flashbulb memories seem to indicate that witnesses may recall vivid sensory content unrelated to the actual event but which enhance its perceived vividness.<ref>{{Citation|last1=Howes|first1=Mary|title=Chapter 9 - Memory and Emotion|date=2014-01-01|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780124080874000098|work=Human Memory|pages=177–196|editor-last=Howes|editor-first=Mary|publisher=Academic Press|language=en|isbn=978-0-12-408087-4|access-date=2020-04-14|last2=O'Shea|first2=Geoffrey|editor2-last=O'Shea|editor2-first=Geoffrey|doi=10.1016/B978-0-12-408087-4.00009-8}}</ref> Due to this vividness, eyewitnesses may place higher confidence in their reconstructed memories.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Christianson|first=Sven-Åke|date=1992|title=Emotional stress and eyewitness memory: A critical review.|journal=Psychological Bulletin|volume=112|issue=2|pages=284–309|doi=10.1037/0033-2909.112.2.284|issn=1939-1455|pmid=1454896}}</ref>