Unit 3- False Memories On Trial

      
   The classic definition of "False Memory" is the psychological phenomenon where in a person recalls something that did not occur.

One of the most common occurrences where False Memories become important is sexual abuse cases when they come to court. An example will show how testimony can be affected by false memories. A famous case "The McMartin pre school trial, hinged on nine young victims memories of molestation and ritual abuse, memories that they had supposedly forgotten and then after being interviewed, recovered. The case fell apart, in 1990, because the prosecution could produce no persuasive evidence of the victims claim." (Starr, D. Remembering A Crime That You Didn't Commit, New Yorker, March 5, 1915, pg.2) obviously in the above example the children interviewed were  coached, or were asked leading questions "To imagine that you were sexually abused. What time of day was it? Where were you? What kind of things are happening? Is there one or more persons with you? Who would have been the likely perpetrator? (Maltz, W. Therapist Quoted In Creating False Memories by Elizabeth F. Loftus, Pg.5) Reviews of this case showed that the children's interviewers guided the children into thinking what did not occur had actually occurred. There was no real evidence found to support their testimony. 

Both the text and other published articles basically agree that false memories can occur normally or by being instilled into your brain by a professional during therapy sessions. 

Methods Studies Include:

-Integration- inappropriately combining info from different sources or events. 

-Leading Questions- The text quotes Loftus on memory impairment where the memory of an event changes as a function of a later event.
  
-Misinformation Acceptance- Accepting additional info not part of the original event.

-Source Misattribution- Cannot distinguish differences between real event and a later event.

Implanted Memory- Implanting memories of things that never happened
(Radvansky. G.A, cognition 6th edition-updated, copy right 2010 pg.155-160)

It is not a surprise that there things do also occur during police interrogations when investigating a suspect in a crime. Many convictions have been overturned where it was later discovered that false memories were involved and there was no other evidence presented except the prep's testimony. Many more studies must be done to "determine what types of individuals are particularly susceptible to those forms of suggestion and who is resistant". (Loftus, E.F, Creating False Memories, Sept 1997, pg.7)

http://ww.newyorker.com/tech/elements/false-memory-crimehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_memoryhttp://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/false-memory-crimehttp://faculty.washington.edu/eloftus/Articles/sciam.htm
By: Daniel King
5/1/2017

Unit Four: The Verbal Transformation Effect

If you are a super horror movie fan like me, then you probably know some of the most iconic music in horror movies. You can hear the uneasy violins in the Saw franchise, the eerie high keys in Halloween, or the stalking sound of "Ki ki ki ma ma ma" in Friday the 13th. Yes, you read that last sentence right, in Friday the 13th the actual sound is "Ki ki ki ma ma ma" not "ch ch ch ah ah ah" or any other variation. So then, why are so many beloved horror fans whispering the wrong sounds? Take a listen below and see what you hear.

This confusion is an example of the Verbal Transformation Effect. The VTE is when an illusory change occurs when an acoustically presented word is repeated for prolonged periods. In this case, the "ki ki ki ma ma ma" are the sounds that are said over and over, making what we hear sound like "ch ch ch ah ah ah". And since we are all probably primed to hear the "ch ch ch ah ah ah" because of the media telling us that was the sound, it's probably another reason why we hear the wrong sounds.

So what if you STILL can't hear the "ki ki ki ma ma ma" in the video? Well take a look at the movie and watch Pamela Voorhees say her infamous line "kill her mommy". The "Ki" sound comes from when Pamela says "Kill" and the "Ma" sound comes from when she says "Mommy". With the help of some technology, reverb to the sound to be exact, this is how the creators of the movie made the "ki ki ki ma ma ma" sound. If we were to take the footage of Pamela saying the "ki" and the "ma" sound and put the audio over it, we could probably hear the sounds more accurately. But if we took video of Pamela mouthing the sounds "ch" and "ah" we would hear her say "ch ch ch ah ah ah" instead. This is an example of the McGurk Effect. The McGurk Effect happens when perception of an intermediate phoneme when auditory and visual speech cues conflict. So we could probably use this effect to our advantage to help people hear the correct sound.

Lastly because the sounds in the movie aren't actual words and there is no context to tell us what it is saying, this may be another reason as to why we hear the wrong sound. This is the same reason why we hear words from our native language in songs sung in a foreign language, we try to listen for what we know and understand in order to make sense of what we hear.

 

(Example of media priming the wrong sound)

-Chelsea Monheim

References:
http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803115457120
http://www.craveonline.com/mandatory/1038167-10-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-friday-the-13th#/slide/1
Class Notes from Dr. Margolin's Cognitive Processes class