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]

when you are working, studying for test, telling events or stories

(all the time)and the examples given are also good esxamples

  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?)

yes… everyone had the same general idea but details different. Stm is info that can be recalled but not remembered long. LTM is stored for a long period of time.

  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. Yes to all of the possibilities

3a. does repetition help prevent loss?

Yes… may help in the case of Alzheimers, 7 times rule, a basic study skill, practice makes perfect, repetition helps an ADHD person

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

Yes, mnemonics among college students, use it to remember the color of copper (Statue of Liberty)

  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: remembering takes unconscious effort, we pay attention to things that interest us and that helps memory, but conscious steps also help: repetition, mnemonics, things that don’t seem relevant, things that don’t affect you require more conscious effort

Likewise, recall depends on how relevant something is, making connections helps.

Lack of distinction between storage and retrieval.

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

People: yes because some brains are better at memory

Cultures: yes, but this may not be a strong belief. Almost have unanimity but not complete

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

Yes… but not strong ideas concerning how

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

Yes… relevant to survival is remembered most, sometimes you don’t have control over what to remember. Remember things you want to remember… shopping v. chores. I’ll remember a pretty wedding dress (interest) but not my flash cards for class. The brain has limited capacity to memory has to be selective.

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

Yes… repetition, luminosity, if you write it down you’ll remember it better, sleep is good, draw pictures and associate things. Practice helps

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

50-90% but around 60% but a lot of uncertainty (behaviorally people tend to trust their own and others’ memory highly, BUT in an interview situation they seem to get cagey.) “If a friend reports an event that happened at work, and they do their best, how accurate do you estimate the report is? Not the details, but the broad outline?

  1. Give a couple of examples of the ways memories may be inaccurate
    an emergency situation, confusion, initial perceptions, peer influence. Witnessing a hit and run and gunshots, speed of car, how far away were different for 2-3 people.
  2. … is it because they are incomplete? … or confuse two events? … or what else?

Incomplete is the big reason

  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 %]

5-10%

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

All of but 3 people thought their memories were more accurate than others

  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?

Yes to repression

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

No to wiping

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

Basically we agreed that a PERMANENT change cannot be made

Or can you just avoid recalling the memory?

Yes, some. It is temporary.

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

Yes, but not necessarily more accurately or more details. 9-11 planes

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

With complex info you may work at it more, or complex info may confuse But what IS complex info? May interact with interest.