New research findings and theories about memory have exploded many of the
myths about remembering and forgetting. Naïve notions about the permanence
and reliability of memories have been challenged by research showing the suggestibility
of eyewitness accounts; simple models of short- vs. long-term memory stores
have been replaced
by more complex neural models of memory processes.
We will explore some of
these new (i.e., from the last decade or so) findings, using the book by memory
researcher Daniel Schacter titled The Seven Sins of Memory (Houghton Mifflin,
2001). More recent research literature will also be examined, and we’ll
perform some in-class experimental demonstrations of the mechanisms and fallibility
of our memory processes.
We will also read a novel by Tim O’Brien, In
the Lake of the Woods (Penguin, 1994), and view recent and classic films
(e.g.,
Memento, 2000; Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2004; Rashomon, 1950;
Spellbound, 1945; 50 First Dates, 2004) to consider and critique
the popular images and beliefs about memory.
Instructor: Terry L. Gottfried, professor of psychology, Lawrence
University