Remembering Our Past : Studies in Autobiographical Memory

This book presents the latest research on the cognition of autobiographical memory from developmental, clinical, and social views. It is an attempt to review the field without losing the excitement of the current research or the individual strengths and perspectives of the chapter authors.

The recent attempt to move research in cognitive psychology out of the laboratory makes autobiographical memory appealing, because naturalistic studies can be done while maintaining empirical rigor. Many practical problems fall into the category of autobiographical memory, such as eyewitness testimony, survey research, and clinical syndromes in which there are distortions of memory. Its scope extends beyond psychology into law, medicine, sociology, and literature. Work on autobiographical memory has matured since David Rubin's Autobiographical Memory appeared in 1986, and the timing is right for a new overview of the topic. Remembering our Past presents innovative research chapters and general reviews, covering such topics as emotions, eyewitness memory, false memory syndrome, and amnesia. The volume will appeal to graduate students and researchers in cognitive science and psychology.