Towards a Comprehensive Model of Human Memory
Towards a Comprehensive Model of Human Memory
Principal investigators
Abstract
Errors and distortions of human memory have been main themes in memory research during the last decade. This focus on the qualitative aspect of memory is partly the result of a widespread concern about the reliability and fallibility of eyewitness testimony demonstrated in widely publicized court trials involving alleged serial killings, mass sexual abuse in kindergartens, and in trials based on early memories resurrected in psychotherapy. Most models of memory are based on laboratory research that focuses on the quantitative aspects of memory. The purpose of this project is to develop a model that incorporates the error-generating factors of human cognition and embeds memory in a larger context of cognitive psychology. The project will consider factors such as the effect of post-event information, social aspects of memory and the importance of collaborative efforts for memory formation, the importance of emotional and personality factors in memory, and memory viewed in a meta-cognition perspective.