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Modifying memory: selectively enhancing and updating personal memories for a museum tour by reactivating them

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 19:38 authored by Peggy L St Jacques, Daniel L Schacter
Memory can be modified when reactivated, but little is known about how the properties and extent of reactivation can selectively affect subsequent memory. We developed a novel museum paradigm to directly investigate reactivation-induced plasticity for personal memories. Participants reactivated memories triggered by photos taken from a camera they wore during a museum tour and made relatedness judgments on novel photos taken from a different tour of the same museum. Subsequent recognition memory for events at the museum was better for memories that were highly reactivated (i.e., the retrieval cues during reactivation matched the encoding experience) than for memories that were reactivated at a lower level (i.e., the retrieval cues during reactivation mismatched the encoding experience), but reactivation also increased false recognition of photographs depicting stops that were not experienced during the museum tour. Reactivation thus enables memories to be selectively enhanced and distorted via updating, thereby supporting the dynamic and flexible nature of memory.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

Psychological Science

ISSN

0956-7976

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Issue

4

Volume

24

Page range

537-543

Department affiliated with

  • Psychology Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2015-01-21

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2015-01-21

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