Reconstructive memory

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Please improve headings where possible -Kevin

Reconstructive Process

Reconstructive Memory is a theory of elaborate memory recall proposed within the field of Cognitive Psychology, in which the act of remembering is influenced by and dependent on various other cognitive processes including Perception, Imagination, Semantic memory and Beliefs, amongst others. One of the basic assumptions of this theory was summarized by Sir Frederick Bartlett ^[1], who suggested that memory is encoded and organized according to the specific historical and cultural contexts present at Encoding. These frameworks are referred to by Bartlett as Schema. In essence, Recontructive Memory refers to the subconscious and unconscious manipulations of Episodic memory in such a way that the retrieval of information is consistent with knowledge that the individual has already acquired^[2].

References

1. "Frederick Bartlett", Remembering: A Study in Experimental and Social Psychology, February 21, 2011
2. "NEUROPHILOSOPHY", Reconstructive memory: Confabulating the past, simulating the future, January 9, 2007

References

Characteristics

Schema

There is a wide range of types of Schematic knowledge but Schema are generally defined as mental information networks that represent some aspect of world knowledge. Frederick Bartlett was the first psychologist to propose Schematic theory, suggesting that the individual's understanding of the world is influenced by elaborate neural networks that organize abstract information and concepts^[1]. Schema are fairly consistent and become strongly ingrained in on the individual level through Socialization and the acquisition of personal perceptual experience. Bartlett originally tested his idea of the individually relative nature of recall by presenting a group of participants with foreign folk tales (his most famous being "War of the Ghosts") with which they had no previous experience with. After presentation of the story, he tested their ability to recall and summarize the stories at various points after presentation. His findings showed that the participants had difficulty recalling the story accurately, with the participants' own account generally being shorter and manipulated in such a way that aspects of the original story that were unfamiliar or conflicting to the participants' own schematic knowledge was removed or altered in a way to fit into more individually accepted versions^[2]

Applications

Eye Witness Testimony

Negative Effects

Historical Views

Related Articles

Papers to Cite

"Frederick Bartlett", Remembering: A Study in Experimental and Social Psychology, February 21, 2011

'War of the Ghosts', Bartlett (1932)

Loftus & Palmer (1974) – Car accident recall

Dooling & Christiaansen (1977) – story recall

Expectancy effects in reconstructive memory: When the past is just what we expected. Truth in memory. (pp. 62-89)New York, NY, US: Guilford PressLynn, Steven Jay (Ed); McConkey, Kevin M. (Ed), (1998). Xix, 508 pp.

Stereotype biases: A reconstructive analysis of their role in reconstructive memory. Clark, Leslie F.; Woll, Stanley B. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 41(6), Dec 1981, 1064-1072.

When expectancy meets desire: Motivational effects in reconstructive memory. McDonald, Hugh E.; Hirt, Edward R. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 72(1), Jan 1997, 5-23.

Baddeley, A.D., Anderson, M. C., & Eysenck, M.W. (2010). Retrieval. Memory (Reprinted. Ed., pp. 180-181). Hove, East Sussex: Psychology Press.

Brignull, H. (2010, March 16). The reconstructive nature of human memory (and what this means for research documentation). User Experience Design, Research and Usability. Retrieved January 27, 2012, from http://www.90percentofeverything.com/2010/03/16/the-reconstructive-nature-of-human-memory-and-what-this-means-for-research-documentation/

Gerrig, R.J., & Zimbardo, P.G. (2007). Psychology & Life (18th Ed.). Boston, Mass.: Allyn and Bacon.

Mcleod, S. (2009, September 15). Simply Psychology. Eye Witness Testimony. Retrieved January 27, 2012, from http://www.simplypsychology.org/eyewitness-testimony.html

1. Cite error: The named reference Bartlett was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
2. "Frederick Bartlett", Some Experiments on the Reproduction of Folk-Stories, March 30, 1920