The seven sins of memory : how the mind forgets and remembers / Daniel L. Schacter.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schacter, Daniel L.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Memory disorders.

Memory.

Recollection (Psychology).

Physical Description:

x, 272 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 2001.

Summary:

Daniel L. Schacter, chairman of Harvard University's Psychology Department and a leading expert on memory, has developed the first framework that describes the basic memory miscues we all encounter. Just like the seven deadly sins, the seven memory sins appear routinely in everyday life. Schacter 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. Although these sins may cause difficulties, as Schacter notes, they're surprisingly vital to a keen mind.

Contents:

Introduction: A Blessing Bestowed by the Gods 1

1. The Sin of Transience 12

2. The Sin of Absent-mindedness 41

3. The Sin of Blocking 61

4. The Sin of Misattribution 88

5. The Sin of Suggestibility 112

6. The Sin of Bias 138

7. The Sin of Persistence 161

8. The Seven Sins: Vices or Virtues? 184.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 230-257) and index.

ISBN:

0618040196

OCLC:

45209152