Vihang Desai
Blog Post 3

Imagery Can Improve Memory and Reduce False Memories

Have you ever been so sure about something that you really remember it happening? For example, have you ever been so sure that you closed all the lights in the house and then only to find out when you come back home that you forgot one light or have you felt that you forgot to close something or shut something off and only to go back and find out that the task was completed already? This is what is called False Memory in cognitive psychology. This actually occurs quite often in human beings and is something that can be reduced, but can never be eliminated. This article is about a way to reduce false memories by using imagery as a technique to remember the correct items a person is trying to recall.

Merrin Oliver, lead author of this study and a Ph.D. student in the educational psychology program at the College of Education & Human Development at Georgia State, conducted a study that proves that we can improve our memory through imagery. Oliver said, “Creating images improved participants’ memories and helped them commit fewer errors, regardless of what kind of list we gave them” (Oliver, et. al., 2016). This would make it seem like the best way for most people to remember something would be to have a visual memory of something that can cue you to the original memory. This type of technique has been proven to work in some studies in regards to helping in retrieval of memories. However, he also said that we are not good judges of knowing the source of our memories, so we mistakenly recollect things that are similar to the situation and falsely remember something (Oliver, et. al., 2016). He also goes on to say that even though imagery does help in decreasing false memory that this effect only occurs during immediate recall and it does not seem to help when there is a delayed recognition test. He suggests that more detailed imagery instructions are needed so that it can help filter out false memories during a recognition test (Oliver, et. al., 2016).

Oliver says, “People should create detailed images with unique characteristics to help avoid the endorsement of false memories on recognition-based tests like true/false or multiple-choice assessments, where you are tempted by lures and possible false memories” (Oliver, et. al., 2016). I think imagery can help us with improving our memory, however we have to be careful in assuming that our memory is completely accurate. We have to remember that our memories are not like a photograph or video that captures exactly what we see. It has moving parts that can change as time goes on and our minds go through a reconstructive process when trying to remember something.

I think imagery can be very helpful in avoiding false memories, however I also think other exercises like auditory and touch sensation when used in conjunction with imagery when trying to encode and store something into memory can be very helpful in making sure correct memories are remembered accurately and false memories get actively discarded. When encoding a memory it would be helpful and easier to recall the memory if there was a particular noise or smell or feeling that occurred during the same time. This sense can be used as a trigger cue in order to help you remember the particular memory and can help you avoid creating false memories because a false memory would not have any cue, so you could identify it and discard it. However, I do not think there really is any full proof way of avoiding false memories. The scary thing is that we can try to correct our memories and make sure that that they are correct, but there is no guarantee that our memories are always going to be completely accurate. Below I have put a link to a video from a TED talk by Elizabeth Loftus. Elizabeth is a cognitive psychologist who has extensively studied human memory and its malleability.

False memory is something that is hard to completely avoid, however there are ways to reduce it and help your memory work better. Certain techniques, like mental images and auditory cues, can help in lessening false memories. We can get better at remembering, but I believe that false memories are also a part of what makes us human. Below I have added a comic strip that makes fun of the idea of false memory.

Here is a cartoon strip I found making fun of false memory and how people can try to take advantage of this:

Here is a link to a video of a Tedx Talk that Elizabeth Loftus presented on False Memory:

Sources

Adams, S. (2010, May 12). Dilbert [Cartoon]. Retrieved April 14, 2018, from http://dilbert.com/strip/2010-05-12
Joke about how False Memory can be used to avoid getting reprimanded or to confuse someone.

Loftus, E. (2013, October 16). How memory plays us: Elizabeth Loftus at TEDxOrangeCoast. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMkZWXDulA4.

Oliver, M.C., Bays, R.B., & Zabrucky, K.M. (2016). False memories and the DRM paradigm: effects of imagery, list, and test type. Journal of General Psychology. doi:10.1080/00221309.2015.1110558.

Vihang Desai

3/3/18

Blog Post 2

This article is about our ability to multitask and keep attention to what we are doing. This article is related to the topic of attention in our course. In the course lesson we discussed that we filter out what we want to pay attention to and that we only focus on certain things when we are bombarded with many things. Research in the lesson has shown that our reaction times greatly decrease when driving while using a cell phone because out attention is split between 2 tasks and our brains are not able to react to things on the road in the split second that we need to when something occurs on the road. We are only able to focus on one thing at a time. However, this study has shown that with practice and appropriate strategies we can become better at multitasking (Weems, 2018). Scott Weems says that our brain changes with training and that if we practice controlling our attention that we can become better at multitasking. Mary Courage, a professor at Memorial University in Newfoundland, says that multitasking may actually have a positive impact in children’s attentional capacity when managed properly (Weems, 2018). However, she also still cautions that certain tasks, such as driving a car, will not be safe to multitask even with practice (Weems, 2018). This may be so because of the amount of attention required when driving. Your brain uses a lot of its working memory when driving since there are so many factors to driving. It inputs so many different information from the environment when driving that your attentional capacity is used to the maximum. The lesson showed that using a cellular device while driving takes away attentional processing that could be used to attend to information in our environment. Multitasking is also considered useful because studies have shown that our brains change with training and that practicing controlling our attention makes us better. A study from the University of Madrid found that “multitasking ability shares a close relationship with both working memory capacity and intelligence, suggesting that they share common neural mechanisms” This means that our working memory effects everything we do and that our working memory allows us to multitask. However, ability to multitask hinders our ability to focus on one task when we need to. Other research has shown that some people have a less developed anterior cingula (part of the brain that responsible for managing our attention), which shows deficits in people being able to focus on one task at a time like listening to one person at a lecture hall or having a direct conversation with one person. This could be the reason that we have stopped having direct conversations with people and the newer generations are starting to use machines to communicate with each other instead of direct contact. However, I believe that we are losing the human connection that we require and our minds are actually becoming lost in this new world.

This article is about using pulses from electrodes that are implanted in a specific part of the brain to help enhance memory. This article is related to the idea about Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, but goes a little further in helping to correct the brain. It uses electrodes that are implanted in the part of the brain where memory is thought to work and the electrodes stimulate that part of the brain directly the way the TMS excites or inhibits that particular part of the brain from the outside.

This new technology is dubbed as the “pacemaker for the brain” where carefully placed electrodes are used to shock a specific part of the brain when those memory areas are functioning poorly or not all. Michael Kahana, who  works with the research team, is quoted as saying, “ We found that jostling the system when it’s in a low-functioning state can jump it to a high-functioning one.”(Carey, 2017). The researchers do caution that this research does not apply everywhere and that this particular study only looked at patients with epilepsy. However, this study does advance our knowledge about stimulating cognitive functioning and allows us to properly and more closely monitor cognitive functioning so that we can precisely stimulate cognitive areas at the right time to help improve thinking and memory in all types of patients who have some type of brain deficit.

The study conducted used 150 patients with some sort of cognitive functioning impairment. One group was given the electrodes (experimental group) and the other group was not given the electrodes (control group). Both groups were asked to memorize list a of words. Then they were both given a distraction. Afterwards, both groups were asked to recall as many words as they could. While they were recalling the information, the scientists also monitored the part of the brain that was related to memory encoding. They found that the experimental group remembered slightly more words than the control group. Dr. Kahana said, “ The average enhancement effect was about 12 to 13 percent” (Carey,2017). This study gives us hope that cognitive degeneration and impairment can be treated and possibly cured. We can combat brain degeneration and give hope for a better quality of life for people with cognitive impairment. The Department of Defense funded this study. They also funded another study using a group of people that had cognitive impairments due to epilepsy. However, this study found that the same treatment did not work for this group.

This study is very exciting in the break through to help people with brain trauma and cognitive impairments. It is like jump-starting the brain in order for it to work properly. I think this research is a big step in helping people and can be used to treat or cure people who are born with cognitive deficits. It could also be used to help people with other psychological disorders like depression, ADHD, ADD, and people in a coma. The specific neurons that we see working in a normal functioning brain can be used as a guide to find  the non working neurons in a person with a psychological disorder. These neurons can be stimulated by an electrode in order to jump-start it. I also think it can help people with alzheimer avoid losing brain cells that are not being used.  We could go inside the brain and specifically excite a particular neuron so that it does not degenerate and be lost forever.

Reference

Carey, Benedict. (2017, April 20). ‘Pacemaker’ for the Brain Can Help Memory, Study Finds. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/20/health/brain-memory-dementia-epilepsy-treatments.html