Studies on the Limitations of Memory

There were many experiments preformed by several psychologists revolving The Scheme Theory. The Schema Theory is the influence of stored knowledge on current information-processing and behavior. Schema are cognitive structures that provide a framework for organizing information about the word. Empirical study is the effects of schemas on memory,that is was Bartlett studied in 1932.

Bartlett.

According to Bartlett , People will retell their memory the way the can relate it to their cultures or memories. He concluded that schemas can be activated to increase info-processing efficiency. They enable generation of expectations about everything. They can also lead to distortions and mistakes when settings are unfamiliar.The way the participants recalled the story came under the influence of relevant schematic knowledge in their memory. 

French and Richards 1993: studied the influence of schemata and memory retrieval. In their study,there were 3 conditions :
1. Particpants were shown a clock with roman numerals and asked to draw the clock from memory.
2.The same procedure,except that they would be required to draw the clock from memory.
3. The clock was left in full view of the participants and they just had to draw the clock.

The clock had the wrong numeral. In the first 2 conditions, most of the participants drew the right one but the rest drew the wrong number.  French and Richards concluded that the participant's knowledge of the Roman numerals is what caused him to draw it correctly.

Brain Structures and Memory Loss: The Case Study of H.M.

In 1953, Henry Gustav Molasion , More commonly know as H.M underwent a experimental surgery to cease his epilepsy. The doctors performed brain surgery and removed a portion of his temporal lobes - the hippocampus. Little did they know that that was going to damage his memory. they noticed that after the surgery he had profound Amnesia. He could remember his past,but anything new, he couldn't transfer it to his long-term memory.


H.M is still considered one of the most interesting and helpful case studies for psychology until today. He died about 3 years ago, He was 82. Tests and experiments were run on H.M . They tried to figure out how a human learns and deals with new experiences. Scientists saw that there were at least two systems in the brain for creating new memories. One, known as declarative memory, records names, faces and new experiences and stores them until they are consciously retrieved. Another system, commonly known as motor learning, is subconscious and depends on other brain systems. Another system, commonly known as motor learning, is subconscious and depends on other brain systems.

I think that Brain surgery is a very risky thing and that no doctor should have operated until he was fully informed about the case of how the brain works. However, I can not  deny that This surgery and what happened to H.M was of vital importance to psychology and the technology and advances we have made today.


http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/05/us/05hm.html?pagewanted=all

False Memory

Eye witness testimony was more commonly used before technology and investigations collaborated. However, This was not the most accurate solution to identifying the criminal or what really happened. Memory is subjected to change and whenever a memory is forced out of the brain, it is bound to be changed.  On August 1, 1984, Ronald Cotton was arrested for the rapes. In January 1985, Cotton was convicted by a jury of one count of rape and one count of burglary. In a second trial, in November 1987,Cotton was convicted of both rapes and two counts of burglary. An Alamance County Superior Court sentenced Cotton to life plus 54 years. 

The victim claimed she had memorized her attackers face, But when she was shown many pictures and asked to identify the person who did it. She picked the wrong one,she was convinced that it was him. When Ronald Cotton demanded that they run tests,the tests revealed that it wasn't him and it was another prisoner. When the confronted the victim,she was convinced it was Ronald not the other man,even though he was right in front of her.  Her  memory had altered itself to place Ronald Cotton in the place of the crime. I think that Eye witness testimony shouldn't be used in courts because it isn't accurate.