Early recollections is an approach that incisively captures the personality dynamics of individuals while remaining economical in terms of time efficiency. This volume reviews and organizes the extensive literature on early recollections since the first published article on the topic in 1893. Specific and detailed guidelines are presented for administering and interpreting early recollections and a contextual approach synthesizes perspectives from three vantage points: subjective, interpersonal, and objective. An extensive number of examples are included in the text along with a full-length case study.
Students and practitioners alike will benefit from gaining an awareness of an approach that will advance the counseling relationship, increase client understanding, and contribute to sound therapeutic planning and interventions.

Related link: Free Email Alerting

"Jackie Andrade's Working Memory in Perspective is a valuable academic exercise for the way in which it forces researchers to turn the microscope on themselves and question fundamental assumptions made in their scientific pursuits. Jackie Andrade should be commended for asking some very tough questions of her UK colleagues. - Andrew A. Conway, University of Illinois, in The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, Section A

' ... the book provides a clear, comprehensive and even-handed overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the influential Working Memory framework. Its appearance is timely ... ' - Gordon D.A. Brown, University of Warwick

'... any researchers hoping to be up to date in their knowledge about immediate memory, and the roles it plays in cognitive life, should read the whole of Andrade's Working Memory in Perspective.' - Michael J. Kane, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, in the European Journal of Cognitive Psychology

'This collection of original chapters is an excellent resource for people in the field of Working Memory. It provides a detailed, incisive and extremely up-to-date account of the current status of the theory of Working Memory' - John Richardson, Brunel University

Memories are the ultimate foundation of testimony in legal settings ranging from criminal trials to divorce mediations and custody hearings. Yet the last decade has seen mounting evidence of various ways in which the accuracy of memories can be distorted on the one hand and enhanced on the other. This book offers a long-awaited comprehensive and balanced overview of what we now understand about children's and adults' eyewitness capabilities--and of the important practical and theoretical implications of this new understanding. The authors, leading clinicians and behavioral scientists with diverse training experiences and points of view, provide insight into the social, cognitive, developmental, and legal factors that affect the accuracy and quality of information obtained in forensic interviews. Armed with the knowledge these chapters convey, practitioners in psychology, psychiatry, social work, criminology, law, and other relevant fields will be better informed about the strengths and limitations of witnesses' accounts; researchers will be better poised to design powerful new studies. Memory and Suggestibility in the Forensic Interview will be a crucial resource for anyone involved in elucidating, interpreting, and reporting the memories of others.

Richard Semon was a German evolutionary biologist who wrote, during the first decade of the twentieth century, two fascinating analyses of the workings of human memory which were ahead of their time. Although these have been virtually unknown to modern researchers, Semon's work has been rediscovered during the past two decades and has begun to have an influence on the field. This book not only examines Semon's contribution to memory research, but also tells the story of an extraordinary life set against the background of a turbulent period in European history and major developments in science and evolutionary theory.
The resulting book is an engaging blend of biographical, historical and psychological material. Through the remarkable story of an almost forgotten German biologist, this fascinating book addresses not only key questions in memory research but also wide-ranging and substantive issues in the history and psychology of science.

Related link: Free Email Alerting

As one of the most hotly debated topics of the past decade, false memory has attracted the interest of researchers and practitioners in many of psychology's subdisciplines. Real-world issues surrounding the credibility of memories (particularly memories of traumatic events, such as sexual abuse) reported by both children and adults have been at the center of this debate. Were the adults actually retrieving repressed memories under the careful direction of psychotherapists, or were the memories being "created" by repeated suggestion? Were children telling investigators about events that actually happened, or were the interviewing techniques used to get at unpleasant experiences serving to implant memories that eventually became their own? There is evidence in the psychological research literature to support both sides, and the potential impact on individuals, families, and society as a whole has been profound.
This book is an attempt to cut through the undergrowth and get at the truth of the "recovered memory/false-memory creation" puzzle. The contributors review seminal work from their own research programs and provide theory and critical evaluation of existing research that is necessary to translate theory into practice. The book will be of great value to basic and applied memory researchers, clinical and social psychologists, and other professionals working within the helping and legal professions.

An explanation of the main models of memory and the various approaches used in its study. This is followed by a study of the theories of forgetting and practical applications of memory research.

Related link: A-Level Psychology Website
Related link: Available for Inspection
Related link: Free Email Alerting

In the World Library of Psychologists series, international experts present career-long collections of what they judge to be their finest pieces - extracts from books, key articles, salient research findings, and their major practical theoretical contributions. The Selected Works of Professor Ray Bull include some of the most influential insights into the psychology of investigative interviewing. Whether it has been determining whether a suspect is lying or telling the truth, enabling children to provide reliable testimony, or understanding how the dynamics of the interview process itself can affect what is achieved, Professor Bull has been at the forefront in researching this fascinating area of applied psychology for over 40 years, his work informing practice internationally. An elected Honorary Fellow of the British Psychological Society and the first Honorary Life Member of the International Investigative Interviewing Research Group, Professor Bull also drafted parts of the government's Memorandum of Good Practice and of Achieving Best Evidence on Video Recorded Interviews with Child Witnesses for Criminal Proceedings. Including a specially written introduction in which Professor Bull reflects on a wide-ranging career and contextualises how the field has evolved, this collection will be a valuable resource for students and researchers of forensic psychology.

This volume explores the well-documented phenomena of memory distortion in a variety of settings, as well as how it can be ameliorated or prevented altogether. The editors have recruited some of the very best researchers in the applied cognitive field to address these issues. These authors examine distortion from several angles: fuzzy trace theory, face identification, memory deficits with age, collaborative influences on distortion, sociocultural influences on memory, retention of procedural and declarative information, and ignorance of medical and other information. The final chapter addresses the issue of cognitive technology, in general. Because of the surge of interest in applied cognitive psychology and in the memory distortion issue in particular, this book will be valuable to many applied and basic researchers.

This work is a collection of theoretical statements from a broad range of memory researchers. Each chapter was derived from a presentation given at the 2nd International Conference on Memory, held at Abano Termi, Italy, 15th to 19th July 1996. The contributions cover imagery, implicit and explicit memory, encoding and retrieval processes, neuroimaging, age- related changes in memory, development of conceptual knowledge, spatial memory, the ecological approach to memory, processes mediating false memories, and cognitive models of memory.

Research on intentional forgetting has been conducted in various forms and under various names for at least 30 years, but until now no effort has been made to present these different perspectives in one place. Comprising both review chapters and new empirical studies, this book brings together the many research paradigms investigating intentional forgetting, thereby highlighting the commonalities that link these seemingly disparate areas of research. It serves as a "case study" of one phenomenon in memory--the intention to forget or to modify memory.
Why is research on intentional forgetting important? It helps to increase the understanding of how memory functions, especially with regard to its updating. In William James' "booming, buzzing confusion," we frequently are unable to adequately process all of the information that we experience; on-line forgetting of some information is necessary. Moreover, we must often replace existing information with new information, as when someone we know relocates and acquires a new address and telephone number. Investigating this updating ability has been the main thrust of research on intentional forgetting, specifically those studies on the directed forgetting phenomenon. Cognitive experiments on directed forgetting have shown that we are able to deal more effectively with large amounts of information by following instructions to treat some of the information as "to be forgotten." In this way, interference is reduced and we are able to devote all of our resources to the remaining to-be-remembered information. The mechanisms that lead to this reduction continue to promote new experiments, but over a quarter century of research maintains that the directed forgetting effect is robust.

In this volume, Jocelyn Small argues that literacy is a complex combination of various skills not just the ability to read and write: the technology of writing, the encoding and decoding of text symbols, the interpretation of meaning, the retrieval and display systems which organise how meaning is stored and memory.
Wax Tablets of the Mind explores the relationship between literacy, orality and memory in classical antiquity, not only from the point of view of antiquity, but also from that of modern cognitive psychology. Jocelyn Small examines the contemporary as well as the ancient debate about how the writing tools we possess interact and affect the product, why they should do so and how the tasks required of memory change and develop with literacy's increasing output and evoking technologies.


eBook available with sample pages: 0203441605

This special issue of the International Journal of Psychology had its origins in the Quebec 98 Conference on Short-Term Memory, held in Quebec City, Canada, in June 1998. Following this conference, participants were invited to submit contributions based on, and expanding upon, their presentation at this conference. The enthusiastic response made it possible to collect the exciting selection of articles that you will find herein. It must be noted that because of the finite journal space available, the editors and reviewers were faced with the difficult problem of selecting only a limited number of the excellent articles that were submitted. The outcome of this process is this special issue, which we believe provides an up-to-date overview of current research on short-term/working memory, including the challenges, controversies, and recent theoretical advances in this field.

While it is commonly accepted that structures in the medial temporal lobe play a critical role in memory, current theories disagree on three fundamental issues: (a) the extent to which different regions within the medial temporal lobe can be functionally dissociated; (b) whether structures within the medial temporal lobe are specialised for memory processing or play an additional role in perception; and (c) whether there is support for functional homology across species. To address these controversial questions, this Special Issue brings together researchers working on memory and perception in the medial temporal lobe and asks whether there is evidence for similar functional dissociations across species. The papers reported here include lesion and early gene imaging in rats, electrophysiological and lesion studies in nonhuman primates, lesion and functional neuroimaging in human participants, as well as touching on computational modelling approaches. Pulling together these methodological diverse contributions, a final chapter highlights the main consistencies and discrepancies with respect the three issues under debate, as well as providing future directions for research in this area. The Special Issue highlights how a cross-disciplinary approach to neuroscientific research can yield powerful converging evidence and help resolve controversies that may seen to exist across methodologies and/or species.

In this volume, two scholars with different but complementary interests in memory and cognitive development present a careful overview of the field of memory development from the perspective of their theory of good strategy use. In addition to treating broad topics of general interest, such as knowledge, cognitive capacity, and metamemory, the text also examines controversial issues surrounding the development of children's memory--particularly eyewitness memory. The result is a coherent statement about memory development accompanied by commentary on the study of memory development, plus applications of the theory and research in the area.
This book is intended for advanced undergraduate and graduate students as well as researchers and other professionals interested in child and adolescent memory.

It is the reproduction of the old book published long back (1923)

The nature of memory for everyday events, and the contexts that can affect it, are controversial topics being investigated by researchers in cognitive, social, clinical, and developmental/lifespan psychology today. This book brings many of these researchers together in an attempt to unpack the contextual and processing variables that play a part in everyday memory, particularly for emotion-laden events. They discuss the mental structures and processes that operate in the formation of memory representations and their later retrieval and interpretation.

Basic researchers unlock the secrets of nature; applied researchers unlock the means by which those secrets of nature can change people's lives. Neither basic nor applied research has an independent impact. These volumes examine the convergence of basic and applied research in the field of memory. "Volume 1: Theory and Context," focuses on the methods for understanding and applying basic memory theory, while "Volume 2: Practical Applications," expands the understanding of practical memory research by providing in-depth research examples and findings.
If the science of memory is to make a significant contribution to society, coordinating our basic and applied efforts and determining how they complement each other become of paramount importance. These volumes will help in this regard--both as textbooks demonstrating how to investigate memory and apply basic memory theory, and as reference sources leading to a better understanding of certain problems in basic and applied memory research.
Readers of these volumes will gain a thorough grasp of the way major themes relate to basic and applied research collaboration, how programmatic basic and applied research can be conducted on particular memory problems, and the manner in which basic and applied work in major problem areas has been incorporated into the field of memory. Both volumes present important information that will be indispensable to researchers and students alike.

The Handbook of Research Methods in Human Memory presents a collection of chapters on methodology used by researchers in investigating human memory. Understanding the basic cognitive function of human memory is critical in a wide variety of fields, such as clinical psychology, developmental psychology, education, neuroscience, and gerontology, and studying memory has become particularly urgent in recent years due to the prominence of a number of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's. However, choosing the most appropriate method of research is a daunting task for most scholars. This book explores the methods that are currently available in various areas of human memory research and serves as a reference manual to help guide readers' own research. Each chapter is written by prominent researchers and features cutting-edge research on human memory and cognition, with topics ranging from basic memory processes to cognitive neuroscience to further applications. The focus here is not on the "what," but the "how"-how research is best conducted on human memory.

Providing an unusual perspective on self and social memory different from the norm in social cognitive research, this volume describes the results of the authors' diary research now in progress for more than 15 years. It investigates the topic of autobiographical memory through longitudinal studies of graduate students' diaries. Recalled and examined in this volume, a recent collection of several long-term diaries -- spanning up to two-and-one-half years in length -- replicated and significantly extended the authors' earlier knowledge of autobiographical memory. These studies are analyzed for commonalities and differences within the entire body of their data. Organized by the major themes suggested by the authors' theoretical views, this volume will be significant to students and researchers of both memory in general, and personal or episodic memory in particular.

Devoted exclusively to prospective memory, this volume organizes the research and thoughts of the important contributors to the field in one comprehensive resource. The chapter authors not only focus on their own work, but also review other research areas and address those where the methods and theories from the retrospective memory literature are useful and where they fall short. Each section is followed by at least one commentary written by a prominent scholar in the field of memory. The commentators present critical analyses of the chapters, note ideas that they found particularly exciting, and use these ideas as a foundation on which to elaborate their own views of prospective memory.
This volume will stimulate the thinking of active prospective memory researchers, provide a coherent organization of the area for the increasing number of people who are interested in prospective memory but who are not yet actively conducting research in the area, and serve as a book of readings for upper division seminars.

It's on the tip of my tongue, but I can't remember her name." Lots of people have difficulty remembering people's names, even though they can easily recall other information about the person. As memory and retrieval processes are central to cognitive psychology and neuropsychology the study of proper names makes a fascinating and practical focus of study. Using an information processing approach, Valentine, Brennen and Bredart consider evidence from speech production, face recognition and word recognition to develop a new functional model of the production and recognition of people's names.
This book will be valuable to all those studying cognitive psychology, cognitive neuropsychology and linguistics. It makes a suitalbe text for higher level undergraduates and postgraduates and those engaged in research.

Brain Development and School offers a range of practical classroom strategies to help pupils develop their executive function. Packed with useful tips that are grounded in theory, it examines how to support aspects of children's executive functioning that can affect their school life; including self-control, memory, metacognition, organisation, motivation, self-regulation and focus. Relevant for pupils in the primary and secondary school, the book focuses on ways of improving children's emotional and intellectual development. It includes: Discussion of what executive functioning is and the different factors that might affect a child's executive functioning Ways that executive functioning weaknesses show themselves in school Support strategies for teachers and advice for pupils to improve specific areas of executive functioning Manageable solutions and modifications that can be applied within the mainstream classroom A self-assessment questionnaire that can be used as a starting point for discussion with pupils This book will be beneficial to all teachers, school leaders and SENCOs looking to support their pupils by identifying and understanding the root causes of their behaviour. It recognises the important role that schools play in pupils' neurological development and suggests ways for schools to provide more personalised, differentiated support for individual pupils.

How is information stored and retrieved from long-term memory? It is argued that any systematic attempt to answer this question should be based on a particular set of specific representational assumptions that have led to the development of a new memory theory -- the connectivity model. One of the crucial predictions of this model is that, in sharp contrast to traditional theories, the speed of processing information increases as the amount and complexity of integrated knowledge increases. In this volume, the predictions of the model are examined by analyzing the results of a variety of different experiments and by studying the outcome of the simulation program CONN1, which illustrates the representation of complex semantic structures. In the final chapter, the representational assumptions of the connectivity model are evaluated on the basis of neuroanatomical and physiological evidence -- suggesting that neuroscience provides valuable knowledge which should guide the development of memory theories.

The work of memory researchers Alan Baddeley and Graham Hitch is a prime example of the ways in which good critical thinkers approach questions and the problems they raise. In the 1960s, researchers into human memory began to understand memory as comprising not one, but two systems. The first was a short-term system handling information for mere seconds. The second was a long-term system capable of managing information indefinitely. They also discovered, however, that short-term memory was not simply a 'filing cabinet,' as many had thought, but was actively working on cognitive - or mental - tasks. This is how the phrase "working memory" developed. The hypothesis remained unproven, however, presenting Baddeley and Hitch with the problem of working out how to produce definitive evidence that short term memory was a working system that actively manipulated and processed information. They responded by designing a series of ten experiments aimed at showing just this - presenting the results in their 1974 article, 'Working memory.' The research was a masterpiece of problem-solving that proved revelatory. The authors not only generated new solutions and made sound decisions between alternative possibilities - they also showed that short-term memory is indeed an active system responsible for information processing and managing, while also influencing attention, reasoning, reading comprehension and learning. While their work has since been refined by others, Baddeley and Hitch's problem-solving approach helped to create the dominant understanding of working memory that underpins psychological research throughout the world today.

Offering the broadest review of psychological perspectives on human expertise to date, this volume covers behavioral, computational, neural, and genetic approaches to understanding complex skill. The chapters show how performance in music, the arts, sports, games, medicine, and other domains reflects basic traits such as personality and intelligence, as well as knowledge and skills acquired through training. In doing so, this book moves the field of expertise beyond the duality of "nature vs. nurture" toward an integrative understanding of complex skill. This book is an invaluable resource for researchers and students interested in expertise, and for professionals seeking current reviews of psychological research on expertise.