7.6: Summary- Inference and Influences on Memory

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The examples we encountered show that memory involves a good deal of reconstruction or inference, and this reconstruction is highly sensitive to context. What we remember can be influenced by:

Obvious inferences (the ants)
Common knowledge (Hitler story)
Expectations (graduate student office)
Labels and concepts (labeled figures)
Subsequent information (the lecture)
Current attitudes and beliefs (attitudes towards drugs)
Current moods and emotions (attitudes of depressed people)
Nature of retrieval cues, e.g., subsequent framing (the collision)

In short, there is a good deal of evidence that when we remember something we are engaged in a sort of inference that moves from information stored in our brain and the features of the situation in which we remember to a conclusion about what we originally saw, heard, or learned. This isn’t a defect of memory. Indeed, it shows some intelligence to automatically try to make sense of things and fill in gaps and focus on essentials rather than on irrelevant details (like the exact wording of the sentences about the ants). It’s just that sometimes the inferences lead us astray.

Many of the factors on this list can also influence reasoning, and memory is susceptible to many of the same kinds of errors that impact reasoning and inference. Because of this, memory can be critically evaluated just like any other source of information can. In the next chapter, we will examine common errors in memory and learn about some ways to avoid them.