Over the past two decades scientists have made remarkable breakthroughs in understanding how memories are stored and retrieved, and with this knowledge they are beginning to understand the mysteries of the human mind. How can we perform tasks such as playing the piano or typing in such a way that we do not need to consciously direct each movement every step of the way? Why can we forget where we put our keys and yet remember events that happened long ago? Why is memory imperfect, and sometimes dead wrong? Daniel Schacter has been at the forefront of the research, and Searching for Memory is his firsthand account of what we now know and what it means. With references to art and autobiography and fascinating case studies, a la Oliver Sacks, he explains how one's past experiences influence the formation of new memories, how and why memory changes as people age, and much more. The book also sheds light on such hot topics as false memory syndrome, recovered memory, Alzheimer's disease and brain-damaged patients.

Thoroughly revised and updated, the second edition of this popular introductory psychology textbook introduces effective new teaching techniques as well as a range of new topics. Clear and engaging, the book provides a fundamental insight into how the mind works.

A groundbreaking work by one of the world's foremost memory experts, THE SEVEN SINS OF MEMORY offers the first framework that explains common memory vices -- and their surprising virtues. In this intriguing study, Daniel L. Schacter explores the memory miscues that occur in everyday life: absent-mindedness, transience, blocking, misattribution, suggestibility, bias, and persistence. Schacter illustrates 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. Together, the stories and the scientific results provide a new look at our brains and at what we more generally think of as our minds. Winner of the William James Book Award

Hypnosis, confabulation, source amnesia, flashbulb memories, repression - these and numerous additional topics are explored in this collection of essays by scholars from a range of disciplines. The book focuses on memory distortion to unite contributions from cognitive psychology, psychopathology, psychiatry, neurobiology, sociology, history, and religious studies. It brings the most relevant group of perspectives to bear on some key contemporary issues, including the value of eyewitness testimony and the accuracy of recovered memories of sexual abuse.

The scientific research literature on memory is enormous. Yet until now no single book has focused on the complex interrelationships of memory and belief. This book brings together eminent scholars from neuroscience, cognitive psychology, literature, and medicine to discuss such provocative issues as "false memoirs", in which people can develop vivid recollections of events that never happened; retrospective biases, in which memories of past experiences are influenced by one's current beliefs; and implicit memory, or the way in which non-conscious influences of past experience shape current beliefs. Ranging from cognitive, neurological and pathological perspectives on memory and belief, to relations between conscious and nonconscious mental processes, to memory and belief in autobiographical narratives, this book will be of interest to scholars in several academic disciplines.