RECONSTRUCTIVE MEMORY IN PSYCHOLOGY
...hortly thereafter and then repeatedly over weeks, months and years. A key feature of the stimulus material was that it belonged to a culture that was exceedingly different to that of the participants. Bartlett concluded that all of these transformations had the effect of making the material easier to remember. Individuals remembered the meaning and tried to sketch out the story using invented details. This reconstructed version of events is easier to remember and therefore becomes our memory for event. Therefore, this study proclaims that reconstructive memory does really exist and our memory is altered by our beliefs and expectations- reconstructive memory. A well known study which investigates the affects of reconstructive memory towards eye witness testimony is study carried out by Loftus and Palmer (1974), The general aim of this study was to investigate the accuracy of memory after witnessing a car accident. In particular, it was to see if leading questions distort the accuracy of an eye witnesses’ immediate recall. They found that the participants estimates of the speed of cars in accidents varied according to the verb used in the question. Those given the verb ‘smashed’ estimated a higher speed (about 41mhp) than the other groups. When participants returned to the lab one week later, they again gave higher speed estimates in the ‘smashed’ condition, and when questioned they were more likely to report having seen broken glass. Loftus and Palmer concluded that the form of question can have a significant effect on a witness’s answer to the question .In other words; leading questions can affect the accuracy of memory. It is possible that such post-event information causes the information to be altered before it is stored so that memory is permanently affected. This study suggests that, r...