How The Mind Forgets And Remembers
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How the Mind Forgets and Remembers
Daniel L. Schacter, chairman of Harvard University's Psychology Department, is internationally recognised as one of the world's authorities on memory, explains that just as the seven deadly sins, the seven memory sins appear routinely in everyday life, and why it is a good thing that they happen and surprisingly vital to a keen mind. The author explains how transience reflects a weakening of memory over time, how absent-mindedness occurs when failures of attention sabotage memory and how blocking happens when we can't retrieve a name we know well. Three other sins involve distorted memories: misattribution (assigning a memory to the wrong source), suggestibility (implanting false memories), and bias (rewriting the past based on present beliefs). The seventh sin, persistence, concerns intrusive recollections that we cannot forget - even when we wish we could. Daniel Schacter illustrates decades of research into memory lapses with compelling, and often bizarre, examples - for example, the violinist who placed a priceless Stradivarius on top of his car before driving off and the national memory champion who was plagued by absentmindedness. This book also explores recent research, such as the imaging of the brain that actually shows memories being formed. Together the stories and scientific findings examined in How The Mind Forgets and Remembers will reassure everyone from twenty-somethings who find their lives too busy to those in their fifties and sixties who are worried about early Alzheimers. Beautifully written, this original book provides a fascinating new look at our brains and what we more generally think of as our minds.
The Seven Sins of Memory
A New York Times Notable Book: A psychologist’s “gripping and thought-provoking” look at how and why our brains sometimes fail us (Steven Pinker, author of How the Mind Works). In this intriguing study, Harvard psychologist Daniel L. Schacter explores the memory miscues that occur in everyday life, placing them into seven categories: absent-mindedness, transience, blocking, misattribution, suggestibility, bias, and persistence. Illustrating these concepts with vivid examples—case studies, literary excerpts, experimental evidence, and accounts of highly visible news events such as the O. J. Simpson verdict, Bill Clinton’s grand jury testimony, and the search for the Oklahoma City bomber—he also delves into striking new scientific research, giving us a glimpse of the fascinating neurology of memory and offering “insight into common malfunctions of the mind” (USA Today). “Though memory failure can amount to little more than a mild annoyance, the consequences of misattribution in eyewitness testimony can be devastating, as can the consequences of suggestibility among pre-school children and among adults with ‘false memory syndrome’ . . . Drawing upon recent neuroimaging research that allows a glimpse of the brain as it learns and remembers, Schacter guides his readers on a fascinating journey of the human mind.” —Library Journal “Clear, entertaining and provocative . . . Encourages a new appreciation of the complexity and fragility of memory.” —The Seattle Times “Should be required reading for police, lawyers, psychologists, and anyone else who wants to understand how memory can go terribly wrong.” —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution “A fascinating journey through paths of memory, its open avenues and blind alleys . . . Lucid, engaging, and enjoyable.” —Jerome Groopman, MD “Compelling in its science and its probing examination of everyday life, The Seven Sins of Memory is also a delightful book, lively and clear.” —Chicago Tribune Winner of the William James Book Award
Remember
*A New York Times bestseller* 'Using her expertise as a neuroscientist and her gifts as a storyteller, Lisa Genova explains the nuances of human memory' - Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and bestselling author of How The Mind Works 'No one writes more brilliantly about the connections between the brain, the mind, and the heart. Remember is a beautiful, fascinating, and important book about the mysteries of human memory - what it is, how it works, and what happens when it is stolen from us. A scientific and literary treat that you will not soon forget.' - Daniel Gilbert ( New York Times bestselling author of Stumbling on Happiness) Have you ever felt a crushing wave of panic when you can't for the life of you remember the name of that actor in the movie you saw last week, or you walk into a room only to forget why you went there in the first place? If you're over forty, you're probably not laughing. You might even be worried that these lapses in memory could be an early sign of Alzheimer's or dementia. In reality, for the vast majority of us, these examples of forgetting are completely normal. Why? Because while memory is amazing, it is far from perfect. Our brains aren't designed to remember every name we hear, plan we make or day we experience. Just because your memory sometimes fails doesn't mean it's broken or succumbing to disease. Forgetting is actually part of being human. In Remember, neuroscientist and acclaimed novelist Lisa Genova delves into how memories are made and how we retrieve them. In explaining whether forgotten memories are temporarily inaccessible or erased forever and why some memories are built to exist for only a few seconds while others can last a lifetime, we're shown the clear distinction between normal forgetting (where you parked your car) and forgetting due to Alzheimer's (that you own a car). Remember shows us how to create a better relationship with our memory - so we no longer have to fear it any more, which can be life-changing.