Evaluation: Reconstructive Memory

Evaluation: Reconstructive Memory

1. Supporting Studies

   • Bartlett's 'War of the Ghost' study told participants an unfamiliar story and asked them to write it down after different time periods (15 mins, a year etc..). They found that over time, the stories became more precise and concise, suggesting people reconstructed their memories of the story.
     • Schemas are units of knowledge which link to form larger structures. Schemas affect our memory by "filling in the gaps".
   • Loftus and Palmer showed a video of a car crash to students and asked "How fast were the cars going when they (smashed/collided/hit/bumped/contacted)?" They found that the stronger the verb used in the question, the faster the speed estimated.
     • We piece together events using a range of what we think probably/usually/must have happened based on our schemas.

2. Criticism of Supporting Studies

   • Bartlett's 'War of the Ghost' study lacked ecological validity as it was done in a lab setting. This discredits the study and therefore the theory.
   • W&L replicated the 'War of the Ghosts' study in a more ecologically valid way and students were asked to recall their first week of university, and then recall again every 2 months for 6 months. They found that the details did not decrease as time went on and therefore invalidates Bartlett's study.

3. Different Theories

   • The theory has been criticised for being over simple. He believed that schemas have an effect at the recall stage, however other people believe that schemas have an effect at the point of learning in order to understand the situation.
     • Believed that memory is "not like a tape recorder" and that memories are not exact copied of what is encoded and stored, but is affected by prior knowledge and experiences in the form of schemas.

4. Application

   • Has important implications in the criminal justice system as eye witness testimony may not be reliable due to wording of questions etc. Now, it is against the rules to use leading questions in court to avoid this inaccurate recall.