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Related Concept Videos

False Memories01:18

False Memories

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False memories represent a cognitive distortion in which individuals recall events that did not happen, or remember them in an altered form. This phenomenon highlights the brain's constructive nature in processing and recalling memories, emphasizing that memory is not a perfect representation of past events but rather a dynamic reconstruction influenced by various factors.
One primary source of false memories is misattribution, where individuals incorrectly associate external information...
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Eyewitness Memory01:22

Eyewitness Memory

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Eyewitness memory refers to the recollection of events by someone who has directly witnessed them, often serving as critical evidence in legal settings. This type of memory is commonly used in criminal cases where a witness describes details like a suspect's appearance, clothing, or behavior during a crime. However, despite its perceived reliability, eyewitness memory is prone to significant errors.
One such error is memory distortion, which occurs because human memory does not function...
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Implicit Memories01:24

Implicit Memories

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Implicit memories, also known as non-declarative memories, are long-term memories that function outside of conscious awareness. These memories influence behavior and skills without explicit knowledge. This type of memory is evident in tasks like playing tennis, snowboarding, and texting. Implicit memory has three subsystems: procedural memory, conditioning, and priming. This type of memory is essential in various activities, from everyday tasks to specialized skills.
One key aspect of implicit...
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Amnesia01:13

Amnesia

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Amnesia is a condition marked by long-term memory loss, which impairs the ability to recall past events or create new memories.
The severity and duration of memory loss vary depending on the type and underlying cause. Amnesia is classified into two main types: retrograde and anterograde.
Retrograde amnesia is marked by the loss of memories formed before the onset of the condition. Patients may recall distant past events but often forget those occurring shortly before the incident.
Anterograde...
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Repressed Memory01:16

Repressed Memory

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Repressed memories are a psychological phenomenon where memories of traumatic events are unconsciously blocked from a person's awareness. This process occurs as a defense mechanism, protecting the mind from the emotional impact of distressing or painful experiences. For example, a person who has experienced childhood trauma may grow up with no conscious recollection of the event. In such cases, the memories are thought to be buried deep within the subconscious, inaccessible to the conscious...
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Dissociative Amnesia01:21

Dissociative Amnesia

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Dissociative amnesia is a complex psychological condition that manifests as an inability to recall personal information, often tied to traumatic or stressful events. Unlike general amnesia, individuals with this condition retain the ability to perform routine activities and procedural tasks, such as operating a phone or navigating public transportation, yet experience profound gaps in autobiographical memory. These lapses may encompass significant life events, such as suicide attempts or...
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Context Breeds False Memories for Indeterminate Sentences.

Levi Riven1, Roberto G de Almeida1

  • 1Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada.

Frontiers in Psychology
|March 29, 2021
PubMed
Summary

Context influences sentence interpretation. Indeterminate sentences, like "Lisa began the book," require contextual information to infer specific meanings, demonstrating the interplay of semantic and pragmatic processes in language comprehension.

Keywords:
compositionalityfalse memoryindeterminate sentencesinferencespragmaticspropositional representationsemantic coercionsentence comprehension

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Linguistics
  • Psycholinguistics

Background:

  • Sentences often require contextual enrichment for full interpretation.
  • Indeterminate sentences pose challenges in understanding implied meanings.
  • The source of information for enriching sentence meaning is debated.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the roles of semantic and pragmatic processes in interpreting indeterminate sentences.
  • To determine how contextual information influences event enrichment for underspecified sentences.
  • To explore the cognitive mechanisms underlying the interpretation of sentences in context.

Main Methods:

  • Experiment 1: Assessed default interpretations and contextual effects on plausibility judgments for indeterminate sentences.
  • Experiment 2: Examined memory representations for indeterminate sentences after exposure to biasing discourse contexts.
  • Utilized plausibility judgments and false recognition tasks to probe sentence interpretation and memory.

Main Results:

  • Indeterminate sentences lack a default interpretation in isolation.
  • Biasing contexts effectively constrain event interpretations and enhance plausibility.
  • Participants showed similar recognition and confidence for original indeterminate sentences and pragmatically enriched foil sentences.

Conclusions:

  • Contextual information is crucial for generating enriched interpretations of indeterminate sentences.
  • Indeterminate sentences trigger pragmatic enrichment in constraining contexts.
  • Interpretation involves creating distinct memory traces for literal and pragmatically enriched meanings.