Memory: The Key to Consciousness

Richard F. Thompson; Stephen A. Madigan

Published by Princeton University Press 2008

Memory

The Key to Consciousness

Richard F. Thompson and Stephen A. Madigan

Volume 3 in the series Science Essentials

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400849482

Overview
Contents

About this book

Memory is perhaps the most extraordinary phenomenon in the natural world. Every person's brain holds millions of bits of information in long-term storage. This vast memory store includes our extensive vocabulary and knowledge of language; the tremendous and unique variety of facts we've amassed; all the skills we've learned, from walking and talking to musical and athletic performance; many of the emotions we feel; and the continuous sensations, feelings, and understandings of the world we term consciousness. Without memory there can be no mind as we understand it.

Focusing on cutting-edge research in behavioral science and neuroscience, Memory is a primer of our current scientific understanding of the mechanics of memory and learning. Over the past two decades, memory research has accelerated and we have seen an explosion of new knowledge about the brain. For example, there now exists a wide-ranging and successful applied science devoted exclusively to the study of memory that has yielded better procedures for eliciting valid recollections in legal settings and improved the diagnosis and treatment of memory disorders.

Everyone fascinated by the scope and power of the human brain will find this book unforgettable.

Author / Editor information

Richard F. Thompson is the William M. Keck Chair in Biological Sciences and professor of psychology and biological sciences at the University of Southern California. Stephen A. Madigan is associate professor of psychology at the University of Southern California.

Reviews

The success of their book is due to their articulate descriptions, memorable anecdotes, intriguing case studies, provocative 'self experiments,' clever illustrations, and (most important) rigorous judgment. . . . Ranging from drug addiction to autism, from dreaming to brain physiology, this book lives up to its title. Essential.

[A] useful and cheerfully accessible account of current ideas on the phenomenology of, and neurophysiological processes associated with, memory formation.---Steven Rose, Times Higher Education Supplement

[An] entertaining review of the current science of memory.---Anne Harding, Lancet

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	v
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
1. What Is Memory? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2. Memories of the Here and Now Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	25
3. The Early Development of Memory Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	50
4. Ordinary Forgetting Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	86
5. Amnesia Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	117
6. False Memory Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	142
7. Emotional Learning and Memory Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	162
8. Language Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	197
9. Mechanisms of Memory Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	228
10. The Future of Memory Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	251
Suggested Readings Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	259
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	261
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	267

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