Memory and stress

[Mr Gray]

Seeing as it is a medical fact that stress effects memory in a negative way, this surely explains the minor inconsistencies in the McCann statements

[stephen25000]

Seeing as it is a medical fact that stress effects memory in a negative way, this surely explains the minor inconsistencies in the McCann statements

Nah.

[Mr Gray]

Nah.

I thought as a chemistry graduate you would understand the role of neurotransmitters in the hippocampus and its role in cognitive behaviour but you can only manage "Nah"

[Sherlock Holmes]

Seeing as it is a medical fact that stress effects memory in a negative way, this surely explains the minor inconsistencies in the McCann statements

A good thread, Davel.

But what specifically do you mean that memory is affected 'in a negative way'?

It has been well-researched for the past three or four decades at least that memory  of a traumatic event is actually reinforced.

I quote part of a conversation from a different thread (So where does Amaral turn, now) from yesterday.

I also include a link to an article which goes over the three stages of memory, and which also discusses this process in the context of witnesses recounting events. Yes, there is a certain amount of distortion in the retrieval, but such distortion occurs in all circumstances.

In reply to Anne yesterday #54:

Yes, the JFK assassination is the archetype of the so-called 'Flashbulb memory.'

I came across a good summary of the mechanics of memory and its three stages: acquisition, retention, retrieval. What is interesting about this particular article is that it explains the process in the context of witness accounts.

http://karws.gso.uri.edu/jfk/critical_thinking/Shadings_of_eyewitness_testimony.html

[stephen25000]

I thought as a chemistry graduate you would understand the role of neurotransmitters in the hippocampus and its role in cognitive behaviour but you can only manage "Nah"

Do you know the difference between a Chemistry degree with some elements of Biochemistry and one in Biology, or is that too tough to grasp.

Also your original post does not prove the Mccanns or associates told the truth.

[ferryman]

Seeing as it is a medical fact that stress effects memory in a negative way, this surely explains the minor inconsistencies in the McCann statements

Straight fallibility in human memory does that.

If eye-witnesses are to be believed, Jean Paul de Menezes, shot dead by a British policeman on an underground train at Stockwell Train station, pole-vaulted a turn-style and dashed into a carriage of the train, wearing a heavy-weight, knee length overcoat.

The truth: he made a leisurely entrance to the platform, stopped to buy a newspaper, boarded the train in a conventional way, wearing a light-weight denim jacket, was pinned to the floor and shot dead with repeated shots to his head.

A reconstruction would never have stood a cat-in-hell's chance of recreating the true sequence of events.

But analysed CCTV footage of the actual events as they happened did!

[Mr Gray]

A good thread, Davel.

But what specifically do you mean that memory is affected 'in a negative way'?

It has been well-researched for the past three or four decades at least that memory  of a traumatic event is actually reinforced.

I quote part of a conversation from a different thread (So where does Amaral turn, now) from yesterday.

I also include a link to an article which goes over the three stages of memory, and which also discusses this process in the context of witnesses recounting events. Yes, there is a certain amount of distortion in the retrieval, but such distortion occurs in all circumstances.

In reply to Anne yesterday #54:

Yes, the JFK assassination is the archetype of the so-called 'Flashbulb memory.'

I came across a good summary of the mechanics of memory and its three stages: acquisition, retention, retrieval. What is interesting about this particular article is that it explains the process in the context of witness accounts.

http://karws.gso.uri.edu/jfk/critical_thinking/Shadings_of_eyewitness_testimony.html

Google and look at the EVIDENCE

JFK was not a stressful event to the vast majority of people so it isn't really relevant apart from his wife whose memory was probably shot to pieces

I will look at the article but I imagine it is not in the context of a mothers memory after the loos of her daughter

[ferryman]

Do you know the difference between a Chemistry degree with some elements of Biochemistry and one in Biology, or is that too tough to grasp.

Also your original post does not prove the Mccanns or associates told the truth.

Frankly, I'm amazed you can spell chemistry!

[icabodcrane]

I can only speak on this subject from a personal perspective

About 18 years ago I experienced a situation so stressful that I pray to God  I never do again

I remember every detail of it to this day  ...  what I was wearing,  what others were wearing,  what I said word for  word,  and what others said ...  I remember the expressions on the faces of others  and the surroundins to the most minute detail 

I wish I didn't,  to be honest  ...  I wish I could forget  ...  but it is burned onto mind like no other memory I have

I don't know if I am an  exception or if others who have experienced extremely stressful situations would concur,  but that is my perspective on the subject of stress and memory 

[Mr Gray]

Do you know the difference between a Chemistry degree with some elements of Biochemistry and one in Biology, or is that too tough to grasp.

Also your original post does not prove the Mccanns or associates told the truth.

oh Stephen, you sound so clever...physical chemistry..inorganic chemistry..biochemistry... I think I still know most of the Krebs cycle...biochemistry, then theres forensic chemistry...pharmacology.. thelist is endless but you can only cite 2...stick with nah...you don't make such a fool of yourself

[Mr Gray]

I can only speak on this subject from a personal perspective

About 18 years ago I experienced a situation so stressful that I pray to God  I never do again

I remember every detail of it to this day  ...  what I was wearing,  what others were wearing,  what I said word for  word,  and what others said ...  I remember the expressions on the faces of others  and the surroundins to the most minute detail 

I wish I didn't,  to be honest  ...  I wish I could forget  ...  but it is burned onto mind like no other memory I have

I don't know if I am an  exception or if others who have experienced extremely stressful situations would concur,  but that is my perspective on the subject of stress and memory

well done...that's called anectdotal evidence and real scientist don't take  a lot of notice of it

[stephen25000]

Frankly, I'm amazed you can spell chemistry!

Damn, that reply is truly amazing.

Did you have to google it ?

[stephen25000]

oh Stephen, you sound so clever...physical chemistry..inorganic chemistry..biochemistry... I think I still know most of the Krebs cycle...biochemistry, then theres forensic chemistry...pharmacology.. thelist is endless but you can only cite 2...stick with nah...you don't make such a fool of yourself

Well, I didn't know there are different branches of Chemistry.

I am truly amazed.

[Mr Gray]

A good thread, Davel.

But what specifically do you mean that memory is affected 'in a negative way'?

It has been well-researched for the past three or four decades at least that memory  of a traumatic event is actually reinforced.

I quote part of a conversation from a different thread (So where does Amaral turn, now) from yesterday.

I also include a link to an article which goes over the three stages of memory, and which also discusses this process in the context of witnesses recounting events. Yes, there is a certain amount of distortion in the retrieval, but such distortion occurs in all circumstances.

In reply to Anne yesterday #54:

Yes, the JFK assassination is the archetype of the so-called 'Flashbulb memory.'

I came across a good summary of the mechanics of memory and its three stages: acquisition, retention, retrieval. What is interesting about this particular article is that it explains the process in the context of witness accounts.

http://karws.gso.uri.edu/jfk/critical_thinking/Shadings_of_eyewitness_testimony.html

I didn't get very far in your article until I came across this....

Violence of event—the more violent the event, the harder it is to remember correctly.
Stress to witness—increasing stress first helps perception, then hinders it. The crossover point varies with the difficulty of the task.

So thanks for showing how stress may have caused the MccAnnns recall problems

[Sherlock Holmes]

Google and look at the EVIDENCE

JFK was not a stressful event to the vast majority of people so it isn't really relevant apart from his wife whose memory was probably shot to pieces

I will look at the article but I imagine it is not in the context of a mothers memory after the loos of her daughter

The so-called flashbulb memory syndrome, of which the JFK assassination is the classic example, is not about how closely related to the event a person is , or how much it actually affected them, as the assassination would have affected JFK's wife.

The concept relates to how the 'bystanders', near or far, reacted - the 'I'll never forget where I was when I heard the news' phenomenon. Anne refers to this in that thread as well and this is the conversation to which I was referring in my previous post here.

If I were to ask you, Davel, where were you on September 11th 2001, you would, like the rest of us, be able to give a reasonably detailed account of where you were and what you were doing, much more so than a random date plucked from the calendar. That ability has nothing whatsoever to do with your actual connection to the event itself. It has everything to do, however, with how memory works when it comes to recounting what we did in our own lives, and hence its study is an important tool in cases like this one.