Factors affecting the accuracy of memory: interference, context and cues, false memories and the effect of leading information, plus amnesia (anterograde and retrograde) and the unreliability of eyewitness testimony.

What this dot point is asking

OCR wants you to explain the factors that affect the accuracy of memory (interference, context and cues, false memories and leading information), describe amnesia (anterograde and retrograde), and explain why eyewitness testimony can be unreliable.

Factors affecting the accuracy of memory

• Interference. Memories can compete: similar information learned before or after can make it harder to recall the target memory, causing errors.
• Context and cues. We remember better when cues present at learning are present at recall (for example, being in the same place, or a smell that triggers a memory). Missing cues make recall harder.
• False memories and leading information. Because memory is reconstructive (see structure of memory), leading or misleading information can be absorbed into a memory, creating a false memory of something that did not happen. The contemporary core study Braun et al. (2002) showed misleading advertising could create false memories.
• Anxiety. High anxiety, or the presence of a weapon, can narrow attention and reduce the accuracy of what is recalled.

Amnesia

• Anterograde amnesia is the inability to form new long-term memories after the damage. The person cannot remember things that happen from that point on, even though older memories may be intact.
• Retrograde amnesia is the loss of memories formed before the damage. The person cannot recall events from their past, although they may still be able to form new memories.

Amnesia is important evidence: cases where one ability is lost but the other survives suggest memory is not a single system, supporting the separate stores of the multi-store model. The classic core study Wilson et al. (2008) studied a patient with severe amnesia.

Why eyewitness testimony can be unreliable

Because recall is reconstructive, eyewitness testimony can be distorted. Witnesses fill gaps with schemas (expected but inaccurate details), can be misled by leading questions that suggest a detail, may form false memories, and can lose accuracy under anxiety or when a weapon narrows their attention. Interference and the passage of time add further distortion. However, eyewitness memory is not always wrong: memory for central, distinctive or highly significant details can be accurate. The sensible conclusion is to treat testimony with caution and support it with other evidence, rather than dismiss it entirely.

Evaluating the factors

Understanding these factors matters for the justice system, education and everyday life. The strength of this research is strong experimental support (leading questions, context cues and false-memory studies show clear, repeatable effects) and real applications (improving police interviewing). The weakness is that much evidence comes from artificial lab tasks (watching videos), which may not match the emotion and importance of real events, where memory can be more accurate. The balanced view, supported by Wilson and Braun, is that memory is fallible but not useless: it is shaped by interference, cues, schemas and leading information, so testimony needs care, not blanket distrust.

Try this

Q1. Define anterograde amnesia. [2 marks]

• Cue. The inability to form new long-term memories after brain damage.

Q2. Give one factor that can create a false memory. [1 mark]

• Cue. Leading or misleading information (such as a leading question or advertising).

Q3. Explain why context and cues affect memory. [2 marks]

• Cue. We recall better when cues present at learning (such as the same place) are present at recall; missing cues make recall harder.