Memory Retrieval

Brown, A.S. (1991) A review of the tip-of-the-tongue experience. Psychological Bulletin, 109, 204-223.
The tip-of-the-tongue experience in memory retrieval is something that most people have experienced.
Its that occasion in memory retrieval when the memory is there but were unable to access it when
needed or for a short period of time. The tip-of-the-tongue phenomena often deal with a feeling of
knowing but still not able to retrieve information. TOT feelings in memory occur pretty sporadically and
this makes it very tough to research. The author also looks at the effect of stress on TOTs. Anxiety
associated with the need to remember something could initiate a memory block. Tip-of-the-tongue
memory lapses are universal and everyone from young children to the elderly experiences them.
Greenwald, A.G., & Banali, M.R. (1995). Implicit Social Cognition: Attitudes, Self-Esteem, &
Stereotypes. Psychological Review, 102(1), 4-27.
This article looks at implicit cognition and its effect on social behavior. Implicit attitudes are due to past
experiences or preconceived notions that individuals are not consciously aware of. The author reviews
how attitudes and stereotypes function unconsciously. Investigations on implicit cognition have to be
completed through indirect measures because participants have to be unaware. The authors believe that
attitudes are constructed outside of conscious attention (Greenwald, A.C et all, (1995). The problem in
this theory is how implicit cognition affects attitudes, self-esteem, or stereotypes in explicit cognition and
behavior. The question is at what point do implicit and explicit cognition or stay dis-attached when a
certain behavior occurs.
Schacter, D. (1999). The Seven Sins of Memory: Insights from Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience.
American Psychologist, 54(3), 182 203.
In the article the author looks at what he considers the dark side of memory. He classifies these darker
manifestations of memory as seven sins of transience, absentmindedness, blocking, misattribution,
suggestibility, bias and persistence. Transience is much like decay where over time lack of use or
activation makes some memories much harder to retrieve. Absent mindedness is another nature of
forgetting where one has a shallow processing of memory or isnt very concerned about storing certain
information. We are often absent minded when we have a lot going on around us. Blocking is pretty selfexplanatory and has not do with not be able to retrieve a memory for a short period time. Misattribution,
the 4th sin of memory, has more to do with accuracy then forgetting. Some fraction of the memory is
associated with incorrect information. Suggestibility also has to do with accuracy but is caused by
interference in memory due to what is being added by others. Suggestibility is often an issue during
interrogations. Because memories are contextual they are often affected by pre-existing beliefs. Bias deals
with this aspect of memory where pre-existing notions distort our memories and taint reality. Persistence,
the 7th sin of memory, has less to do with forgetting and more to do with remembering something you
with to forget. Individuals try to suppress disturbing memories but those remain the most vivid.