Beginning in the 1990s, the contentious "memory wars" divided psychologists into two schools of thought: that adults' recovered memories of childhood abuse were generally true, or that they were generally not, calling theories, therapies, professional ethics, and survivor credibility into question. More recently, findings from cognitive psychology and neuroimaging as well as new theoretical constructs are bringing balance, if not reconciliation, to this polarizing debate. Based on presentations at the 2010 Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, True and False Recovered Memories: Toward a Reconciliation of the Debate assembles an expert panel of scholars, professors, and clinicians to update and expand research and knowledge about the complex interaction of cognitive, emotional, and motivational factors involved in remembering-and forgetting-severe childhood trauma. Contrasting viewpoints, elaborations on existing ideas, challenges to accepted models, and intriguing experimental data shed light on such issues as the intricacies of identity construction in memory, post-trauma brain development, and the role of suggestive therapeutic techniques in creating false memories. Taken together, these papers add significant new dimensions to a rapidly evolving field. Featured in the coverage: The cognitive neuroscience of true and false memories. Toward a cognitive-neurobiological model of motivated forgetting. The search for repressed memory. A theoretical framework for understanding recovered memory experiences. Cognitive underpinnings of recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse. Motivated forgetting and misremembering: perspectives from betrayal trauma theory. Clinical and cognitive psychologists on all sides of the debate will welcome True and False Recovered Memories as a trustworthy reference, an impartial guide to ongoing controversies, and a springboard for future inquiry.

While the fall of the Berlin Wall is positively commemorated in the West, the intervening years have shown that the former Soviet Bloc has a more complicated view of its legacy. In post-communist Eastern Europe, the way people remember state socialism is closely intertwined with the manner in which they envision historical justice. Twenty Years After Communism is concerned with the explosion of a politics of memory triggered by the fall of state socialism in Eastern Europe, and it takes a comparative look at the ways that communism and its demise have been commemorated (or not commemorated) by major political actors across the region. The book is built on three premises. The first is that political actors always strive to come to terms with the history of their communities in order to generate a sense of order in their personal and collective lives. Second, new leaders sometimes find it advantageous to mete out justice on the politicians of abolished regimes, and whether and how they do so depends heavily on their interpretation and assessment of the collective past. Finally, remembering the past, particularly collectively, is always a political process, thus the politics of memory and commemoration needs to be studied as an integral part of the establishment of new collective identities and new principles of political legitimacy. Each chapter takes a detailed look at the commemorative ceremony of a different country of the former Soviet Bloc. Collectively the book looks at patterns of extrication from state socialism, patterns of ethnic and class conflict, the strategies of communist successor parties, and the cultural traditions of a given country that influence the way official collective memory is constructed. Twenty Years After Communism develops a new analytical and explanatory framework that helps readers to understand the utility of historical memory as an important and understudied part of democratization.

How is the memory of traumatic events, such as genocide and torture, inscribed within human bodies? In this book, Paul Connerton discusses social and cultural memory by looking at the role of mourning in the production of histories and the reticence of silence across many different cultures. In particular he looks at how memory is conveyed in gesture, bodily posture, speech and the senses - and how bodily memory, in turn, becomes manifested in cultural objects such as tattoos, letters, buildings and public spaces. It is argued that memory is more cultural and collective than it is individual. This book will appeal to researchers and students in anthropology, linguistic anthropology, sociology, social psychology and philosophy.

Foundations of Human Memory provides an introduction to the scientific study of human memory with an emphasis on both the major theories of memory and the laboratory studies that have been used to test those theories and inspire their further development. Written with the undergraduate student in mind, the text assumes no specific background in the subject, but a general familiarity with scientific method and quantitative approaches to the treatment of data. Foundations of human memory is organized around the major empirical paradigms used to study memory in the laboratory and the theories used to explain data obtained using those paradigms. The text begins with a focus on memory for individual items, building up to memory for associations between items, and finally to memory for entire sequences of items and the problem of memory search. Several major theories of memory are considered in detail, including strength theory, summed-similarity theory, neural network based theories, retrieved-context theory, and theories based on the division of memory into separate short-term and long-term storage systems. The text emphasizes basic research over applied problems, but brings in real-world examples and neuroscientific evidence as appropriate.

This means that many neuroanatomists may balk at the functional interpretation I have given their sort of data, whereas many neuroscien tists in other fields may balk at references to neuroanatomy they cannot confirm from memory and begrudge the time to look up. Members of both groups may consequently decline to read the book on the ground that it is too risky or too difficult to follow, or both. Let me say, in my own defence, that although the argument presented here draws upon data from a number of different fields, they fit together in ways that are often quite striking; that the problem of memory is in itself an important one; and that theory in neuroscience, if it is to fulfill its function of unifying our understanding by way of testable propositions, has got, at some point, to become interdisciplinary. I submit that the present theory meets those requirements and may therefore justify the effort it asks of the reader. To the extent that it passes the critical test of experiment, it will also give research in the fields related to memory a clearer rationale, thereby, perhaps, saving time. Introduction What follows is an outline of the theory of memory functions developed in this monograph. It will not include the supporting data and references used throughout in the text, but will simply present the essentials of the argument."

Many millions of people are affected by the trauma of war. Psychologists have a good understanding of how experiences of war impact on memory, but the significance of external environmental influences is often disregarded. 'Memory, War and Trauma' focuses on our understanding of the psychosocial impact of war in its broadest sense. Nigel C. Hunt argues that, in order to understand war trauma, it is critical to develop an understanding not only of the individual perspective but also of how societal and cultural factors impact on the outcome of an individual s experience. This is a compelling book which helps to demonstrate why some people suffer from post-traumatic stress while other people don t, and how narrative understanding is important to the healing process. Its multidisciplinary perspective will enable a deeper understanding of both individual traumatic stress and the structures of memory.

Memory is one of the core areas of academic research in cognitive psychology. Psychology Library Editions: Memory brings together a series of previously out-of-print titles, available as a 27-volume set or as individual volumes. The authors come from diverse backgrounds and many of them are now leading experts in their fields. The majority of titles were originally published in the 1970s and 1980s and reflect early research in a number of key areas. The volumes cover topics such as memory development in children; memory and aging; memory and thinking; memory and language; working memory; and memory disorders, to name but a few. This is a great opportunity to obtain a valuable resource tracing the development of a major field of psychology.

The "neurosciences" is now a common 'term to describe several branches of the biology related to studies of the nervous system. In fact, this term also character- izes a multidisciplinary approach to studies of probably the most complicated system of the most complicated living organisms. Investigation of the central ner- vous system (CNS) is the most quickly developing branch of the neurosciences. According to Konorski's definition, the CNS "is endowed with two principal properties which are referred to as reactivity and plasticity. Reactivity of the sys- tem is its capacity to be activated by stimulation of receptive organs; plasticity is the capacity to change its reactive properties as the result of successive activa- tions" ([520], p. 7). According to Kostyuk [535], plastic reorganizations include "any changes in the efficacy or direction of neuronal connectivity which exceed in their duration usual synaptic and spike events" ([535], p. 25). Neuronal plasticity underlies adaptive modifications of various complexities both in normal CNS, e. g. its development, formation of memory traces and condi- tioned responses (CRs) , as well as in brain pathology, e. g. reorganization and compensation of damaged nervous functions. Clarification of plasticity mecha- nisms is of great cognitive importance and might be of practical value in the treatment of mental and especially memory disorders.

About the Scope of This Text This book contains two types of material ~ first, the many divergent and often diffuse meanings given to the concepts of association, associative memory, and associative recaZZ are expounded. A review of this kind was felt necessary because there apparently does not exist any single monograph which could serve as a reference to these topics. But the presentation of the main body of this text is motivated by quite other reasons: in recent years, plenty of interesting mathematical and system-theoretical material has been published which makes it possible to gain a view of associative memory which is different from the conventional abstract and computationally oriented approaches. It seems that the basic operation of associative memory, the storage of information together with the relations or links between the data items, and the selective recall of stored information relative to a piece of key or cue information presented, is not restricted to certain computer-technological implementations but can also be reflected in more general mathematically describable processes in certain physical or other systems, especially in their adaptive state changes. It further seems that some generally known forms of associative memory, namely, certain computer technological artifacts, or abstract systems of concepts or data, are in fact special representations of a class of processes characterized as associative memory.

This book was first published in 2009. We often remember personal experiences without any conscious effort. A piece of music heard on the radio may stir a memory of a moment from the past. Such occurrences are known as involuntary autobiographical memories. They often occur in response to environmental stimuli or aspects of current thought. Until recently, they were treated almost exclusively as a clinical phenomenon, as a sign of distress or a mark of trauma. In this innovative work, however, Dorthe Berntsen argues that involuntary memories are predominantly positive and far more common than previously believed. She argues that they reflect a basic mode of remembering that predates the more advanced strategic retrieval mode, and that their primary function may simply be to prevent us from living in the present. Reviewing a variety of cognitive, clinical, and aesthetic approaches, this monograph will be of immense interest to anyone seeking to better understand this misunderstood phenomenon.

We take for granted the survival into the present of artifacts from the past. Indeed the discipline of archaeology would be impossible without the survival of such artifacts. What is the implication of the durability or ephemerality of past material culture for the reproduction of societies in the past? In this book, Andrew Jones argues that the material world offers a vital framework for the formation of collective memory. He uses the topic of memory to critique the treatment of artifacts as symbols by interpretative archaeologists and artifacts as units of information (or memes) by behavioral archaeologists, instead arguing for a treatment of artifacts as forms of mnemonic trace that have an impact on the senses. Using detailed case studies from prehistoric Europe, he further argues that archaeologists can study the relationship between mnemonic traces in the form of networks of reference in artifactual and architectural forms.

Recollections of unexpected and emotional events (called 'flashbulb' memories) have long been the subject of theoretical speculation. Previous meetings have brought together everyone who has done research on memories of the Challenger explosion, in order to gain a better understanding of the phenomenon of flashbulb memories. How do flashbulb memories compare with other kinds of recollections? Are they unusually accurate, or especially long-lived? Do they reflect the activity of a special mechanism, as has been suggested? Although Affect and Accuracy in Recall focuses on flashbulb memories, it addresses more general issues of affect and accuracy. Do emotion and arousal strengthen memory? If so, under what conditions? By what physiological mechanisms? This 1993 volume is evidence of progress made in memory research since Brown and Kulick's 1977 paper.

The chapters in this volume are testament to the many ways in which Robert Bjork's ideas have shaped the course of research on human memory over four decades. It showcases the theoretical advances and recent findings by researchers whose work and careers have been influenced by Bjork. The first group of chapters explore the idea that forgetting is an adaptive response to the demands of a retrieval system fraught with competition - an idea that has helped recalibrate conceptualizations of memory away from one in which in which the computer is the dominant metaphor. Several chapters then review the application of research on learning and memory to enhancing human performance, reflecting Bjork's staunch commitment to translating his findings and theories to real-world settings. Later chapters address topics that are relevant to the translation of cognitive psychology to human performance, and in particular recognize the critical role of metacognition in such problems. The final chapters cover a variety of issues related to how remembering can be enhanced, and how research on remembering can be profitably guided by the use of mathematical modeling. This volume will appeal to researchers and graduate students of human learning, memory, and forgetting, and will also benefit an audience working in applied domains, such as training and education.

This volume provides an integrative review of the emerging and increasing use of network science techniques in cognitive psychology, first developed in mathematics, computer science, sociology, and physics. The first resource on network science for cognitive psychologists in a growing international market, Vitevitch and a team of expert contributors provide a comprehensive and accessible overview of this cutting-edge topic. This innovative guide draws on the three traditional pillars of cognitive psychological research-experimental, computational, and neuroscientific-and incorporates the latest findings from neuroimaging. The network perspective is applied to the fundamental domains of cognitive psychology including memory, language, problem-solving, and learning, as well as creativity and human intelligence, highlighting the insights to be gained through applying network science to a wide range of approaches and topics in cognitive psychology Network Science in Cognitive Psychology will be essential reading for all upper-level cognitive psychology students, psychological researchers interested in using network science in their work, and network scientists interested in investigating questions related to cognition. It will also be useful for early career researchers and students in methodology and related courses.

An Introduction to Cognitive Psychology: Processes and Disorders provides a comprehensive, yet accessible, overview of the field for undergraduate students. The fourth edition has been thoroughly revised throughout to provide a comprehensive introduction to the core topics of cognition, including memory, perception, thinking, and language. Uniquely, alongside coverage of normal cognitive function, the book also includes chapters on clinical disorders such as agnosia, amnesia, and aphasia, providing a more balanced insight into the nature of cognition and its related disorders. Key features: Completely revised and updated throughout to provide a comprehensive overview of current thinking in the field Accessibly written by experienced textbook authors and academic experts, including Michael Eysenck and Sophie Scott A new chapter on Problem Solving, written by Fernand Gobet, a leading authority in the field Greater coverage of neuropsychological disorders, with additional coverage of brain imaging research Features a wealth of real-world examples throughout to bring research to life Specially designed textbook features, chapter summaries, further reading, and a glossary of key terms An Introduction to Cognitive Psychology will appeal to all students on an undergraduate psychology degree course, as well as to those studying in related clinical professions.

Research on applied memory is one of the most active, interesting and vibrant areas in experimental psychology today. This book provides descriptions of cutting-edge research and applies them to three key areas of contemporary investigation: education, the law and neuroscience.

In the area of education, findings from the study of memory are described which could have a major impact on testing practice, revision techniques for examinations and teaching basic literacy and numeracy. In applications to the law, recent findings shed new light on the dynamics of child abuse investigations, the status of traumatic memories recovered after long delays and a further challenge for the eyewitness: change blindness. Finally, in neuroscience, contributions cover the frightening question of whether patients can remember incidents during surgical operations under anaesthetic, the unexpected impact of handedness and rapid eye movements on memory proficiency and the status of deja vu: mystical experience or memory error?

These accounts of recent research on applied memory have been written by leading experts in the field from both Europe and America, with the non-specialist in mind. They will interest students who wish to extend their reading beyond core material in cognitive psychology, graduates on more specialised courses in education, forensics and neuropsychology, and all those who wish to enrich their knowledge of the contemporary frontiers of applied memory research.

People sometimes remember events that never happened. These illusory or false memories have important practical implications in various aspects of everyday life, and also have significant theoretical implications for cognitive and neuropsychological models of memory. Cognitive psychologists and neuropsychologists have long been aware of false recognition, confabulation, and related kinds of memory distortions, but during the past several years research on these topics has increased rapidly. In recognition of this emerging domain of interest, this special issue of Cognitive Neuropsychology is devoted to the cognitive neuropsychology of false memories. Edited by Daniel L. Schacter, the special issue features experimental and theoretical contributions from leading cognitive psychologists, neuropsychologists, and neurologists that explore such issues as false recognition after frontal lobe damage, the nature of confabulation, amnesia and false memories, physiological correlates of memory illusions, memory distortions in normal and abnormal aging, and computational models of true and false memories.

This volume addresses a subject of vital importance to the study of Irish history--literature and politics. Although collective memory and commemoration has attracted much attention from British, French and American scholars, this is the first major study of the relationship between history and memory in Ireland--closing a remarkable gap in the literature, considering the frequency with which Unionists as well as nationalists have invoked the past, erected monuments and observed anniversaries. This book helps define the main concepts and issues in an emerging field of inquiry.

This edited collection offers an empirical exploration of social memory in the context of politics, war, identity and culture. With a substantive focus on Eastern Europe, it employs the methodologies of visual studies, content and discourse analysis, in-depth interviews and surveys to substantiate how memory narratives are composed and rewritten in changing ideological and political contexts. The book examines various historical events, including the Russian-Afghan war of 1979-89 and World War II, and considers public and local rituals, monuments and museums, textbook accounts, gender and the body. As such it provides a rich picture of post-socialist memory construction and function based in interdisciplinary memory studies.

Featuring contributions from world-leading experts, this book presents a timely overview of current theoretical, methodological, and applied issues in the field of prospective memory. The authors explore how prospective memories are formed, how they are maintained over time, and how they are retrieved. This volume integrates our understanding of prospective memory and how it functions with related cognitive processes and themes, such as context memory, metamemory, working memory, and cognitive control. Considering recent methodological advances in the field, such as the use of cognitive modeling, the book also covers individual differences in prospective memory abilities, their development across the life span, and their manifestations in naturalistic settings. The book also illustrates how the understanding of prospective memory can be integrated with other related research areas. Prospective Memory is an invaluable resource for students and researchers of human memory.

This Classic Edition of the best-selling textbook offers an in-depth overview of approaches to the study of memory. With empirical research from both the real world and the neuropsychological clinic, the book explains the fundamental workings of human memory in a clear and accessible style. This edition contains a new introduction and concluding chapter in which the author reflects on how the book is organized, and also on how the field of memory has developed since it was first published. Essentials of Human Memory evolved from a belief that, although the amount we know about memory has increased enormously in recent years, it is still possible to explain it in a way that would be fully understood by the general reader. After a broad overview of approaches to the study of memory, short-term and working memory are discussed, followed by learning, the role of organizing in remembering and factors influencing forgetting, including emotional variables and claims for the role of repression in what has become known as the false memory syndrome. The way in which knowledge of the world is stored is discussed next, followed by an account of the processes underlying retrieval, and their application to the practical issues of eyewitness testimony. The breakdown of memory in the amnesic syndrome is discussed next, followed by discussion of the way in which memory develops in children, and declines in the elderly. After a section concerned with mnemonic techniques and memory improvement, the book ends with an overview of recent developments in the field of human memory. Written by the leading expert in human memory, recently awarded the British Psychological Society Research Board Lifetime Achievement Award, Essentials of Human Memory will be of interest to students of Cognitive Psychology, Neuropsychology, and anyone with an interest in the workings of memory.

Looking at a diverse range of texts including Marilyn French's The Women's Room, Philip Roth's Patrimony, the writings of Walter Benjamin and Fredric Jameson, and films such as Cinema Paradiso, Susannah Radstone argues that though time has been foregrounded in theories of postmodernism, those theories have ignored the question of time and sexual difference.

The Sexual Politics of Time proposes that the contemporary western world has witnessed a shift from the age of confession to the era of memory. In a series of chapters on confession, nostalgia, the 'memories of boyhood' film and the memoir, Susannah Radstone sets out to complicate this claim. Developing her argument through psychoanalytic theory, she proposes that an attention to time and sexual difference raises questions not only about the analysis and characterization of texts, but also about how cultural epochs are mapped through time.

The Sexual Politics of Time will be of interest to students and researchers of time, memory, difference and cultural change, in subjects such as Media and Cultural Studies, Sociology, Film Studies.

Stories are central to our world. We form our families, our communities, and our nations through stories. It is through stories of our everyday experiences that each of us constructs an autobiographical self, a narrative identity, that confers a sense of coherence and meaning to our individual lives. In this volume, Robyn Fivush describes how this deeply personal autobiographical self is socially and culturally constructed. Family Narratives and the Development of an Autobiographical Self demonstrates that, through participating in family reminiscing, in which adults help children learn the forms and functions of talking about the past, young children come to understand and evaluate their experiences, and create a sense of self defined through individual and family stories that provide an anchor for understanding self, others, and the world. Fivush draws on three decades of research, from her own lab and from others, to demonstrate the critical role that family stories and family storytelling play in child development and outcome. This volume is essential reading for students and researchers interested in psychology, human development, and family studies.

The Handbook of Eyewitness Psychology presents a survey of research and legal opinions from international experts on the rapidly expanding scientific literature addressing the accuracy and limitations of eyewitnesses as a source of evidence for the courts. For the first time, extensive reviews of factors influencing witnesses of all ages-children, adults, and the elderly-are compiled in a single pair of volumes. The disparate research currently being conducted in eyewitness memory in psychology, criminal justice, and legal studies is coherently presented in this work. Controversial topics such as the use of hypnosis, false and recovered memories, the impact of stress, and the accuracy of psychologically impaired witnesses are expertly examined. Leading eyewitness researchers also discuss the subjects of conversational memory, alibi evidence, witness credibility, facial memory, earwitness testimony, lineup theory, and expert testimony. The impact of witness testimony in court is considered, and each volume concludes with a legal commentary chapter. The Handbook of Eyewitness Psychology is an invaluable aid to researchers, legal scholars, and practicing lawyers who need access to the most recent research in the field, accompanied by the interpretations and commentary of many of the world's leading authorities on these topics.

The Handbook of Eyewitness Psychology presents a survey of research and legal opinions from international experts on the rapidly expanding scientific literature addressing the accuracy and limitations of eyewitnesses as a source of evidence for the courts. For the first time, extensive reviews of factors influencing witnesses of all ages-children, adults, and the elderly-are compiled in a single pair of volumes. The disparate research currently being conducted in eyewitness memory in psychology, criminal justice, and legal studies is coherently presented in this work. Controversial topics such as the use of hypnosis, false and recovered memories, the impact of stress, and the accuracy of psychologically impaired witnesses are expertly examined. Leading eyewitness researchers also discuss the subjects of conversational memory, alibi evidence, witness credibility, facial memory, earwitness testimony, lineup theory, and expert testimony. The impact of witness testimony in court is considered, and each volume concludes with a legal commentary chapter. The Handbook of Eyewitness Psychology is an invaluable aid to researchers, legal scholars, and practicing lawyers who need access to the most recent research in the field, accompanied by the interpretations and commentary of many of the world's leading authorities on these topics.