
Memory, Brain, and Belief
Harvard University Press
Published on 30. September 2001
Book
Paperback/Softback
364 pages
978-0-674-00719-2 (ISBN)
Description
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 memories," 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 nonconscious 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 uniquely stimulating to scholars in several academic disciplines.
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 uniquely stimulating to scholars in several academic disciplines.
Reviews / Votes
The decidedly interdisciplinary anthology brings together researchers from neuroscience, cognitive psychology, literature and medicine to discuss the nature of memory and belief... Researchers present interesting results indicating that one's own memories of the past are strongly influenced by one's present beliefs, current experience and even nonconscious influences. The picture of memory presented throughout these essays is both fascinating and disquieting... It is uncomfortable to be told that we do not know our own minds and past experiences as well as we think we do, but it makes for captivating reading... An interesting and useful contribution to the growing body of research on memory, belief, and autobiography. -- James R. Beebe * Metapsychology * The eleven chapters, and a masterful summary by Damasio, present many facets of the problem, from the paranoid delusions of the schizophrenic to experimentally provoked errors in memory. -- Robert W. Doty * Quarterly Review of Biology * The process of recalling things, people and events-using our memory-is something we do every day but think little about. Schacter and Scarry, editors of this collection of conference papers, seek to zero in on this ubiquitous, if ill-defined, activity by examining it from a variety of perspectives... The book's multidisciplinary approach makes for innovative insight into the subject; the writing and research is clear and well presented, accessible to the uninformed reader but still academically rigorous. -- David E. Valencia * Library Journal *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge, Mass
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
8 line illustrations, 6 tables
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 156 mm
Weight
540 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-674-00719-2 (9780674007192)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Daniel L. Schacter is William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. Elaine Scarry is Professor of English and American Literature and Language at Harvard University.
Content
Introduction Daniel L. Schacter and Elaine Scarry 1. Mining the Past to Construct the Future: Memory and Belief as Forms of Knowledge Chris Westbury and Daniel C. Dennett PART 1: Cognitive, Neurological, and Pathological Perspectives 2. Cognitive and Brain Mechanisms of False Memories and Beliefs Marcia K. Johnson and Carol L. Raye 3. Memory and the Brain: New Lessons from Old Syndromes V.S. Ramachandran 4. The Role of Memory in the Delusions Associated with Schizophrenia Chris Frith and Raymond J. Dolan PART 2: Conscious and Nonconscious Aspects of Memory and Belief: From Social Judgments to Brain Mechanisms 5. Implicit Stereotypes and Memory: The Bounded Rationality of Social Beliefs Mahzarin R. Banaji and R. Bhaskar 6. Belief and Knowledge as Distinct Forms of Memory Howard Eichenbaum and J. Alexander Bodkin 7. Where in the Brain is the Awareness of One's Past? Endel Tulving and Martin Lepage PART 3: Memory and Belief in Autobiographical Recall and Autobiography 8. Constructing and Appraising Past Selves Michael Ross and Anne E. Wilson 9. Memory and Belief in Development Katherine Nelson 10. Autobiography, Identity, and the Fictions of Memory Paul John Eakin 11. Autobiography as Moral Battleground Sissela Bok Thinking about Belief: Concluding Remarks Antonio R. Damasio Contributors Index