Consciousness and Short-Term Memory

Consciousness and Short-Term Memory

1.

In this discussion you will analyze current ideas on consciousness and short-term memory. Choose one of the prevailing views discussed above and find a journal article or Internet resource that supports your chosen view. In your initial post:

1. Describe at least one of the main arguments.
2. Explain the evidence used by the authors to support their argument.
3. Identify the author’s conclusions and the implications of the findings.
4. Based on your perspective and what you have learned, explain your own position about the connection between consciousness and memory.

2.

Elizabeth Loftus (2003), a memory researcher from the University of California, Irvine, is interested in repressed and false memories, especially those related to eyewitness testimonies. She says:

The malleability of memory is becoming increasingly clear. Many influences can cause memories to change or even be created anew, including our imaginations and the leading questions or different recollections of others. The knowledge that we cannot rely on our memories, however compelling they might be, leads to questions about the validity of criminal convictions that are based largely on the testimony of victims or witnesses. Our scientific understanding of memory should be used to help the legal system to navigate this minefield (p. 231).

According to Huff (2002), every year 7500 Americans are convicted of crimes they did not commit.

Loftus (2003) offers two anecdotes to make the point:

• Ronald Cotton, a North Carolina prisoner who was convicted in 1986 of raping a 22-year-old college student, Jennifer Thompson, puts a human face on these cases. Thompson took the stand, put her hand on the Bible, and swore to tell the truth. On the basis of her testimony, Cotton was sentenced to prison for life. Eventually, DNA testing—which began 11 years after Thompson had first identified Cotton—proved his innocence.
• Another man, Bobby Poole, pleaded guilty to the crime. Faulty memory is not just about picking the wrong person. Memory problems were also evident during the sniper attacks that killed ten people in the Washington, DC area in 2002. Witnesses reported seeing a white truck or van fleeing several of the crime scenes. It seems that a white vehicle might have been near one of the first shootings and media repetition of this information contaminated the memories of witnesses to later attacks, making them more likely to remember white trucks. When caught, the sniper suspects were driving a blue car. Were we observing unwitting memory contamination on a nationwide scale? (p. 231).

Discuss whether or not a person should be sent to prison based on eyewitness testimony alone. What are the pros and cons of eyewitness testimony?

What are your thoughts on influences on memory including suggestibility and repressed memories?

References

Huff, R. (2002). What can we learn from other nations about the problem of wrongful conviction? Judiacature, 86(2), 91–97.

Loftus, E. (2003). Our changeable memories: Legal and practical implications. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 4(3), 231–234

3.

For this discussion, apply and integrate your knowledge by identifying strategies involving memory that you have found helpful in studying for exams (such as mnemonic devices, elaborative and maintenance rehearsal, or sufficient sleep):

• Describe your specific memory strengths and weaknesses related to studying and give an example.
• Describe the tasks you used to test your memory after studying for the exam.
• What affects your ability to retrieve information from memory on exam day

4.

The most popular topic of investigation within the realm of everyday memory has no doubt been autobiographical memory. A person’s history is at the core of his or her identity. It should not surprise you that autobiographical memories are as varied as the people who produce them. For this discussion, respond to the following:

• How do autobiographical memories and autobiographical facts differ from each other? Give an example of each.
• From your experience and what you have learned about the differences, how would you say that autobiographical memories influence autobiographical facts? Provide an example or two to illustrate your thinking