Memory Interview

Here are the questions to use in organizing your interviews of 2 informants. Spaces allow you to put notes right after each question. You might want to print this out twice, once for each informant.

Every time someone gives you some information, ask “What are you thinking of... do you have an example?” (this is important for interpreting responses)

1.  give some examples of when you use your memory. What are some situations in which you use memory? [note: use this information on following questions as examples to give context. On this question, most informants will think of studying for a test, remembering a short grocery list, or remembering a to-do list for the day. If they don’t name these, ASK if these are good examples]

to do lists, shopping, school-related, locations and directions

[always using memory]

  1. have you heard of the idea that there are 2 memory systems? short and long term memory? (if so, what is the difference... examples?)

stm: where parked car, phone #, where you put can of chew, keys

LTM: first pet’s name, (it’s forever? Or most of life? Can recall when you need it), remembering birthdays, events from childhood

  1. Do memories fade? Are they lost? why?

(some possibilities:

++ they fade away,

++ they get lost in the jumble of things to remember,

++ important or relevant memories are stored better than ordinary memories, and they last longer

++ your memory can get too full so storing more becomes difficult, especially in older people

Yes, they fade. Less important, or not used or referred to

More relevant or important ones stick, less important ones fade

3a. does repetition help prevent loss?

yes

3b. can making associations help to store memories better?

yes

  1. Does storing something in memory usually involve effort? Do you usually have to work to get something to stay in memory? Does recalling information often involve effort?

STORING:It depends on how important the memory is to you. [one person wanted to add MOTIVATION] [3 people dissented by saying random things can pop in]

RECALLING: Yes, recalling can take effort, especially if it has been a while

Easier to remember a big lifetime event than everyday normal activities (birthday, anniversary) v. what you had for breakfast

  1. Are some people better than others at memory? Are some cultures better?

PEOPLE: yes, gifted or better study habits [1 person: but this is not necessarily innate]

CULTURE: not much of a feel for this

(minority opinion realizes that lo tech cultures emphasize memory skill)

[1 disagreed that culture had anything to do with it]

  1. Is the memory system organized? If so how?

Don’t know (sophisticated people say long v. short, declarative v. procedural, categories)

Filing cabinet, visual memory or hearing sounds, short v. long term

  1. Is memory selective? Do you remember some things and not others? Explain the selective aspect.

Yes. More emotional (positive?), interesting is better stored, important, relevant

[1 person: negative emotion works too]

  1. Can memory be improved if you work at it? What helps? Does practice help? What should you do?

Yes, flash cards, cross-words, keep brain active. (some with disabilities may not be able to improve)

YES, practice helps.

  1. Do most people have a fairly accurate memory? About how often are peoples’ memories inaccurate? [ask for %]

10-40% inaccurate. YES, most have a fairly accurate memory. Forgetting small details, or things not easily associated, exaggeration, memories fading, time, mixing up stories

25, 20, 20 20 20 40 20 50 10 10 25 25 25 25 15 20 35 40 33 40 25 30 25 40

[3 people feel the inaccuracy score should be higher]

  1. Give a couple of examples of the ways memories may be inaccurate
  2. … is it because they are incomplete? … or confuse two events? … or what else?

Leading questions, amnesia, repressed memories

Mood

  1. How often are memories completely false? (for ex., someone “remembers” doing something they never did… or being someplace they were never at) [ask for a %]

0 5 5 5 10 15

Maybe dreams, confusing fantasy & reality

  1. What about your memory? Are most of your memories a fairly accurate record of your experiences? [ask for %]

90% or better [5 people give a much lower %]

  1. Freud believed unpleasant memories could be repressed. This is not a conscious process but an involuntary process where the unconscious mind makes a memory inaccessible to the conscious mind. Do you believe this can occur? Why?

Most believe this can occur

[some people aren’t so sure about this or don’t like the idea]

Or instead of repression, can you just “wipe” something out of your memory banks so it is not there?

No one believed this

Or can you change an unpleasant memory into one less unpleasant?

Most believe that’s possible [perhaps in therapy]

Or can you just avoid recalling the memory?

Most believe this

[a couple didn’t like this idea]

  1. Are emotional events (such as 9-11 or a car accident or winning the lottery) better remembered than ordinary events? For example?

YES. Being diagnosed as diabetes v. strep throat; getting a $100 on a lottery ticket; bad car accident, hitting a deer, Christmas, childhood birthdays,

[they may be inaccurate however]

  1. Is complex information more difficult to store than simple information?

YES, unanimous