Demonstration 5: Memory Is Often a Reconstruction

In the last demonstration about memory, the students were shown 8 geometric shapes and were asked to recall by drawing the shapes on the paper later. Each shape was shown with the same amount of time. Then we had to close our eyes to visualize what we saw, while Mr. Anthony gave out a paper with clue for each shape. The students didn’t know that there are two sets of paper containing different clues.

Comparison of two sets of clues:

Dumbbell – Eyeglasses
Stirrup – Bottle
Letter “C” – Crescent Moon
Hat – Beehive
Diamond in a Rectangle – Curtains in a window
Four – Seven
Sun – Ship’s wheel
Table – Hourglass

These clues were to change and reconstruct our memory. The person who received a dumbbell clue will draw a little different from the person who received an eyeglasses clue, showing that clues and questions influence the response, answers. This demonstration shows that memory is often a reconstruction. This idea can be used widely in the field of justice. Lawyers can use ingenious wording to alter the answer of the witnesses.

The experiment does not seem to work with me and my partner and some of the classmates because there were only 8 shapes for us to remember, so most of us remember them clearly. If there were to be 20 shapes, the experiment would show a more solid result.