Essentials of Human Memory

by Baddeley,Alan D.

• ISBN13: 9780863775451
• ISBN10: 0863775454
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 1999-02-01
• Publisher: Taylor & Franci

Summary

Essentials of Human Memoryevolved 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. This book is based on an earlier book,Your Memory, which was intended for the general public but began to be used as a basic memeory text, thus encouraging the development of the present revised textbook version.Essentials of Human Memorycombines coverage of the fundamental issues of human memory, based on laboratory research with abundant illustrations from studies in the real world and in the neuropsychological clinic, where dramatic memory deficits have continued to throw light on our understanding of normal memory. After a braod 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 in influemcing forgetting, including emotionalvariables 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 onf memory in the amnesic syndrome is discussed next, followed by discussion of the way in which memory develops in children, and declinces 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. Each chapter is accompanied by a summary with suggestions for further reading.

Table of Contents

Series preface	ix
Preface	xi
What is memory?	1	(20)
The physical basis of memory	3	(3)
How psychologists study memory	6	(2)
The nature of human memory	8	(2)
How many kinds of memory?	10	(9)
Summary	19	(2)
Short-term memory	21	(24)
Digit span	22	(2)
Chunking	24	(2)
Short-term forgetting	26	(4)
Free recall	30	(4)
Are short-term and long-term memory separate systems?	34	(2)
Acoustic cues	36	(3)
Short-term memory store	39	(1)
Levels of processing	40	(1)
Summary	41	(4)
Working memory	45	(26)
Capacity and limitations	46	(3)
The phonological loop system	49	(10)
The visuo-spatial sketch pad	59	(7)
The central executive	66	(3)
Summary	69	(2)
Learning	71	(24)
Rate of learning	72	(1)
Distributed practice	73	(3)
Motivation to learn	76	(2)
Learning and arousal	78	(2)
Memory and anaesthesia	80	(2)
Repetition and learning	82	(3)
Meaning and memory	85	(1)
Learning and predictability	86	(3)
Implicit learning	89	(4)
Summary	93	(2)
Organising and remembering	95	(14)
Remembering stories	95	(4)
The role of organisation	99	(2)
Visual imagery mnemonics	101	(1)
Supernormal imagery	102	(3)
Mnemonists and memory feats	105	(1)
Summary	106	(3)
Forgetting	109	(22)
The forgetting curve	109	(1)
Memory for events	110	(2)
Do we forget skills?	112	(2)
Resistance to forgetting	114	(5)
Theories of forgetting	119	(2)
Sleep and memory	121	(1)
Interference and forgetting	121	(5)
Accessing the memory trace	126	(2)
Summary	128	(3)
Repression	131	(14)
Forgetting what is unpleasant	132	(1)
Hysterical amnesia	133	(3)
Multiple personality	136	(1)
Child abuse	137	(6)
Summary	143	(2)
Storing knowledge	145	(24)
Storing simple concepts	146	(6)
Schemata	152	(2)
Scripts	154	(2)
The nature of semantic memory: Words, images, or propositions?	156	(4)
Learning new concepts	160	(4)
Disorders of semantic memory	164	(1)
The organisation of semantic memory	165	(1)
Summary	166	(3)
Retrieval	169	(30)
Learning to retrieve	171	(1)
``On the tip of the tongue''	172	(2)
Classifying incoming material	174	(2)
Depth of processing	176	(2)
Retrieval cues	178	(4)
Context-dependent memory	182	(2)
State-dependent memory	184	(1)
Mood-congruent memory	185	(1)
Recollection	186	(5)
What can we learn from computers?	191	(2)
Connectionist models	193	(3)
Summary	196	(3)
Eyewitness testimony	199	(20)
Innocent or guilty?	200	(1)
Suspect testimony	201	(2)
The influence of violence	203	(1)
Leading questions	204	(5)
Remembering faces	209	(6)
Identity parades and line-ups	215	(2)
Summary	217	(2)
Amnesia	219	(18)
What is it like to be amnesic?	219	(2)
Causes of amnesia	221	(2)
Retrograde amnesia	223	(1)
Pure amnesia	224	(4)
Amnesia and everyday memory	228	(2)
Amnesic patients can still learn	230	(2)
Managing memory problems	232	(3)
Summary	235	(2)
Memory in childhood	237	(14)
Infantile amnesia	238	(5)
Children as witnesses	243	(2)
Do children forget more quickly than adults?	245	(1)
What develops in cognitive development?	246	(3)
Summary	249	(2)
Memory and ageing	251	(24)
Age and cognitive processes	252	(1)
Working memory and ageing	253	(5)
Long-term memory	258	(2)
Prospective memory	260	(1)
Semantic memory	260	(2)
Implicit learning	262	(1)
Biological influences	262	(1)
Individual differences	263	(2)
Alzheimer's disease	265	(7)
Summary	272	(3)
Improving your memory	275	(28)
Everyday remembering	275	(4)
Demands on memory	279	(1)
Mnemonic aids	279	(8)
Ritual and oral tradition	287	(4)
Improving your memory	291	(3)
Attention and interest	294	(4)
Organisation	298	(1)
Practice	298	(2)
Conclusion	300	(1)
Summary	300	(3)
What's next in the study of memory?	303	(24)
Some powerful influences on current research	303	(1)
The study of working memory	304	(8)
The study of long-term memory	312	(12)
Conclusion	324	(1)
Summary	325	(2)
References	327	(18)
Author Index	345	(6)
Subject Index	351