Here’s a quiz you can take to find out how much you know about making and accessing memories. Daniel Schacter, author of The Seven Sins of Memory, contends that the problems we experience with memory are “by-products” of adaptive and useful aspects of the human mind. If we can better understand how memory works and what its purpose is, we can better appreciate the process of memory-making. That might help us avoid getting into arguments with other people based on whose memories are right and whose are wrong. To a great extent, they’re all wrong.
Check in tomorrow for the answers.
- The more confident you feel about a memory, the more likely it is to be factual. [–] True [–] False
– - False memories are rare occurrences. [–] True [–] False
– - You remember the things that have a strong emotional component. [–] True [–] False
– - The more details you recall, the more likely it is that a particular memory is accurate and/or true. [–] True [–] False
– - The more often you recall a memory, the more opportunities you have to alter it. [–] True [–] False
– - Something you’re really interested in is more likely to be stored in your long-term memory than something you’re not interested in. [–] True [–] False
– - You tend to recall so-called flashbulb memories—extremely vivid, powerful, and significant memories—with greater accuracy. [–] True
[–] False
– - The best way to get accurate information from people is to ask them open-ended questions. [–] True [–] False
– - A confession is a reliable indication of culpability because people rarely confess to crimes they didn’t commit.[–] True [–] False
– - When you try to suppress a specific memory, you’re likely to develop other memory deficits that seem unrelated. [–] True [–] False
– - Your recollection of a memory can be influenced and altered based on the circumstances you’re in when you recall it. [–] True [–] False
– - Eyewitness testimony is reliable. [–] True [–] False
– - You don’t remember much from before the age of three because your brain hadn’t yet learned how to encode long-term memories. [–] True [–] False
– - You have equal recall of the beginnings, middles, and endings of what you remember. [–] True [–] False
– - There is no evidence for repressed memory. [–] True [–] False
– - Mindfulness meditation may make you more susceptible to developing false memories. [–] True [–] False
The more confident you feel about a memory, the more likely it is to be factual. True [yes] False
–
False memories are rare occurrences. [–] True [–] False
Probably false. I don’t think so about my memories.
–
You remember the things that have a strong emotional component.
True
–
The more details you recall, the more likely it is that a particular memory is accurate and/or true.
True
–
The more often you recall a memory, the more opportunities you have to alter it.
True
Something you’re really interested in is more likely to be stored in your long-term memory than something you’re not interested in.
True
–
You tend to recall so-called flashbulb memories—extremely vivid, powerful, and significant memories—with greater accuracy.
Not sure – probably false.
–
The best way to get accurate information from people is to ask them open-ended questions.
TRUE
–
A confession is a reliable indication of culpability because people rarely confess to crimes they didn’t commit.
FALSE, and dangerously so.
–
When you try to suppress a specific memory, you’re likely to develop other memory deficits that seem unrelated.
Never thought about that
–
Your recollection of a memory can be influenced and altered based on the circumstances you’re in when you recall it.
True
–
Eyewitness testimony is reliable.
False
–
You don’t remember much from before the age of three because your brain hadn’t yet learned how to encode long-term memories.
Conjecture: You may not remember the details but certain incidents before three can have a lasting effect.
–
You have equal recall of the beginnings, middles, and endings of what you remember.
False
–
There is no evidence for repressed memory.
False
–
Mindfulness meditation may make you more susceptible to developing false memories.
No idea, but possibly