Understanding Psychology (10th Ed)

implicit memory p. 224
priming p. 224
fl ashbulb memories p. 225
constructive 
processes p. 226
schemas p. 226
autobiographical 
memories p. 229
E VA LU AT E
1. While with a group of friends at a dance, Eva bumps into 
a man she dated last month. But when she tries to intro-
duce him to her friends, she cannot remember his name. 
What is the term for this occurrence?
2.
is the process of retrieving a specifi c item from 
memory.
3. A friend tells you, “I know exactly where I was and what I 
was doing when I heard that Michael Jackson died.” What 
is this type of memory phenomenon called?
4.
theory states that the 
more a person analyzes a statement, the more likely he or 
she is to remember it later.
R E T H I N K
1. Research shows that an eyewitness’s memory for details 
of crimes can contain signifi cant errors. How might a 
lawyer use this information when evaluating an 
eyewitness’s testimony? Should eyewitness accounts 
be permissible in a court of law?
2. From a social worker’s perspective: Should a child victim of 
sexual abuse be allowed to testify in court, based on what 
you’ve learned about children’s memories under stress?
 Answers to Evaluate Questions
1. 
tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon;
2. 
recall;
3.
fl 
ashbulb memory;
4. 
levels-of-processing
 
Module 21 
Recalling Long-Term Memories 
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Known in the scientifi c literature by the alias of H.M., he could remember, quite 
literally, nothing—nothing, that is, that had happened since the loss of his brain’s 
temporal lobes and hippocampus during experimental surgery to reduce epileptic 
seizures. Until that time, H.M.’s memory had been quite normal. But after the operation 
he was unable to recall anything for more than a few minutes, and then the memory 
was seemingly lost forever. He did not remember his address, or the name of the 
person to whom he was talking. H.M. would read the same magazine over and over 
again. According to his own description, his life was like waking from a dream and 
being unable to know where he was or how he got there. (Milner, 1966, 2005) 
As the case of H.M. illustrates, a person without a normal memory faces severe dif-
fi culties. All of us who have experienced even routine instances of forgetting—such 
as not remembering an acquaintance’s name or a fact on a test—understand the very 
real consequences of memory failure. 
Of course, memory failure is also essential to remembering important informa-
tion. The ability to forget inconsequential details about experiences, people, and 
objects helps us avoid being burdened and distracted by trivial stores of meaningless 
data. Forgetting permits us to form general impressions and recollections. For exam-
ple, the reason our friends consistently look familiar to us is because we’re able to 
forget their clothing, facial blemishes, and other transient features that change from 
one occasion to the next. Instead, our memories are based on a summary of various 
critical features—a far more economical use of our memory capabilities. 
The fi rst attempts to study forgetting were made by German psychologist 
Hermann Ebbinghaus about a hundred years ago. Using himself as the only