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Product Description
Product Description
Why do we remember events from our childhood as if they happened yesterday, but not what we did last week? Why does our memory seem to work well sometimes and not others? What happens when it goes wrong? Can memory be improved or manipulated, by psychological techniques or even 'brain implants'? How does memory grow and change as we age? And what of so-called 'recovered' memories? This book brings together the latest research in neuroscience and psychology, and weaves in case-studies, anecdotes, and even literature and philosophy, to address these and many other important questions about the science of memory - how it works, and why we can't live without it.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
You are, as this book tries to make clear, your memories. That is, your personal identity is so intricately based on the sum total of your memories that it makes it impossible to have any idea of what a "self" may mean without resorting to understand how memory works. Since we take the memories we have to be the basis of our identity, it can be very hard to imagine that this memory has some serious limitations and ways that it can deceive us. A scientific study of memory is about a century and a half old, and over time we have managed to understand quite a bit about the inner working of human memory. The two main types of memory, short term and long term, are familiar to us from everyday life, but what is not too familiar is how short term memories get converted to the long term ones. This book gives an excellent account of this process, as well as how stable long term memories can be.
The book discusses the neurological basis of memory. All our memories are (at least for the foreseeable future) stored in our brains, and different parts of brain have a different function when it comes to the storage and retrieval of memories. A demage to any of those brain centers can have very serious and debilitating consequences for our normal cognitive functions.
A chapter of the book is dedicated to memory impairments, as well as to some reliable techniques for boosting one's memory. It also explains that there is an upper limit to how much we can remember. And that's a good thing - those few unfortunate individuals who could remember everything (mnemonists) ended up cluttering their minds with absolutely useless information, and normal human activities that we take for granted became impossible for them. It turns out, that we are not just what we remember: we are also what we forget. And that's worth keeping in mind.
The book discusses the neurological basis of memory. All our memories are (at least for the foreseeable future) stored in our brains, and different parts of brain have a different function when it comes to the storage and retrieval of memories. A demage to any of those brain centers can have very serious and debilitating consequences for our normal cognitive functions.
A chapter of the book is dedicated to memory impairments, as well as to some reliable techniques for boosting one's memory. It also explains that there is an upper limit to how much we can remember. And that's a good thing - those few unfortunate individuals who could remember everything (mnemonists) ended up cluttering their minds with absolutely useless information, and normal human activities that we take for granted became impossible for them. It turns out, that we are not just what we remember: we are also what we forget. And that's worth keeping in mind.
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Another fascinating and informative book in this wonderful series, his style is sometimes a bit dry but the subject is compelling. I'm going to have to stop reading last thing at night as apparently this is the worst time of day to retain information.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4 reviews
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
A book of memory
19 Dec 2008
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
You are, as this book tries to make clear, your memories. That is, your personal identity is so intricately based on the sum total of your memories that it makes it impossible to have any idea of what a "self" may mean without resorting to understand how memory works. Since we take the memories we have to be the basis of our identity, it can be very hard to imagine that this memory has some serious limitations and ways that it can deceive us. A scientific study of memory is about a century and a half old, and over time we have managed to understand quite a bit about the inner working of human memory. The two main types of memory, short term and long term, are familiar to us from everyday life, but what is not too familiar is how short term memories get converted to the long term ones. This book gives an excellent account of this process, as well as how stable long term memories can be.
The book discusses the neurological basis of memory. All our memories are (at least for the foreseeable future) stored in our brains, and different parts of brain have a different function when it comes to the storage and retrieval of memories. A demage to any of those brain centers can have very serious and debilitating consequences for our normal cognitive functions.
A chapter of the book is dedicated to memory impairments, as well as to some reliable techniques for boosting one's memory. It also explains that there is an upper limit to how much we can remember. And that's a good thing - those few unfortunate individuals who could remember everything (mnemonists) ended up cluttering their minds with absolutely useless information, and normal human activities that we take for granted became impossible for them. It turns out, that we are not just what we remember: we are also what we forget. And that's worth keeping in mind.
The book discusses the neurological basis of memory. All our memories are (at least for the foreseeable future) stored in our brains, and different parts of brain have a different function when it comes to the storage and retrieval of memories. A demage to any of those brain centers can have very serious and debilitating consequences for our normal cognitive functions.
A chapter of the book is dedicated to memory impairments, as well as to some reliable techniques for boosting one's memory. It also explains that there is an upper limit to how much we can remember. And that's a good thing - those few unfortunate individuals who could remember everything (mnemonists) ended up cluttering their minds with absolutely useless information, and normal human activities that we take for granted became impossible for them. It turns out, that we are not just what we remember: we are also what we forget. And that's worth keeping in mind.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Memory 101
29 Dec 2010
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
As you'd expect from a book that's meant to be a concise and introductory text on memory, this book covers the highlights of memory research from the past century. But it also leaves a lot unsaid and portrays a very specific (but not necessarily universally accepted) perspective on memory.
As a full-time memory researcher, of course I'm going to gripe about *something* not being in the book. And, in truth, Foster does a pretty remarkable job of packing a lot of material into a tiny book. The book covers different memory systems (short- and long-term memory), influential theories like levels-of-processing, as well as plenty on false memory. And Foster rightly hammers home the point that memory is not a passive storage system.
That said, I was disappointed with major sections of the book and I think it perpetuates myths and misconceptions about memory. For instance, the sections on long, short, and working memory present a "systems-based" view of memory, where memory is divided into distinct modules which presumably have different principles. While this view should certainly be mentioned on any book on memory, Foster never mentions that this view has been challenged repeatedly: the distinction between long/short/working memory may be a false one that psychologists have foisted on the public. Also, the evidence for subsystems of working memory like the phonological loop, typically in the form of articulation span, has been widely challenged (if not completely discredited). It's not that Foster should consider every article ever written on memory -- that's impossible -- but the systems-based view has enjoyed a wide popularity that is now fading in favor of functionally-oriented views of memory.
Memory research is a huge field so it's hard to expect someone to know the whole domain inside and out. And, as I said, the book generally does a good job of presenting ideas clearly, but it's disappointing that the book advocates such a specific conception of the architecture of memory without commenting on alternatives.
As a full-time memory researcher, of course I'm going to gripe about *something* not being in the book. And, in truth, Foster does a pretty remarkable job of packing a lot of material into a tiny book. The book covers different memory systems (short- and long-term memory), influential theories like levels-of-processing, as well as plenty on false memory. And Foster rightly hammers home the point that memory is not a passive storage system.
That said, I was disappointed with major sections of the book and I think it perpetuates myths and misconceptions about memory. For instance, the sections on long, short, and working memory present a "systems-based" view of memory, where memory is divided into distinct modules which presumably have different principles. While this view should certainly be mentioned on any book on memory, Foster never mentions that this view has been challenged repeatedly: the distinction between long/short/working memory may be a false one that psychologists have foisted on the public. Also, the evidence for subsystems of working memory like the phonological loop, typically in the form of articulation span, has been widely challenged (if not completely discredited). It's not that Foster should consider every article ever written on memory -- that's impossible -- but the systems-based view has enjoyed a wide popularity that is now fading in favor of functionally-oriented views of memory.
Memory research is a huge field so it's hard to expect someone to know the whole domain inside and out. And, as I said, the book generally does a good job of presenting ideas clearly, but it's disappointing that the book advocates such a specific conception of the architecture of memory without commenting on alternatives.
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Engaging and easy to understand
25 July 2010
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The major models of memory are presented in a compact and easy to comprehend exposition.
Less well-trod approaches and computational models are not included.
Less well-trod approaches and computational models are not included.
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