Master’s Thesis Proposal Meeting
Date: March 11, 2022
Time: 12:00 PM

Location: https://bluejeans.com/582467600/9169
 
Advisor:
Paul Verhaeghen, Ph.D. (Georgia Tech)
 
Thesis Committee Members:

Paul Verhaeghen, Ph.D. (Georgia Tech)
Eric Schumacher, Ph.D. (Georgia Tech)

Mark Wheeler, Ph.D. (Georgia Tech)

Title: Memory Self-Modification as a Function of Confidence during Reconsolidation

Abstract:

It is no secret that memory changes over time. Research on learning, eyewitness testimony, even flashbulb memory among others all tell us this. However, what role does confidence play in memory? Researchers have found varying relationships between confidence and accuracy, but it is possible that confidence has more of a relationship with consistency than with accuracy; information that is remembered incorrectly up front may still carry high confidence and be retained. This study will address the possible relationship through reconsolidation during repeated recall. Participants in the study will watch a pair of similar videos and answer questions about details of each and their confidence in their responses. Over the next two weeks, they will recount what details they remember from the video in unprompted free recall about only one of the two videos, then retake the initial questionnaire. The relationship between initial confidence and consistency of response will be analyzed along with accuracy, and any difference between responses when free recall was engaged or was not. I expect to find that confidence predicts consistency, and that this is especially true in the free recall condition. Providing additional clarity on these relationships will inform future research into memory and the factors at play.