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Memory Distortion: What Really Happened in the Past?
Our memories ultimately determine who we are in the present; however, even our shared experiences are subjective, especially because such memories become distorted over time. But why does this happen in the first place?
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Collaborative Inhibition: The Surprising Effect of Recalling Information in Groups
It is often said that “Two heads are better than one,” but do memory researchers agree? This article discusses the surprising effect known as collaborative inhibition.
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A Lifetime of Knowledge Can Benefit Memory in Old Age
Overall, memory declines as we age, but prior knowledge may be able to benefit memory in old age.
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Where is my mind? A brief review of neuroscientists’ search for biological substrates of memory
Neuroscientists have sought to understand the biological nature of memory for decades. In this brief review, I talk about the history of memory research and where the field is now.
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How the Brain Makes Sure You Don’t Miss Lunch-dates. (Hint: Use Smartphones)
Future intentions are difficult to remember. Luckily, we adapt by using external devices such as smartphones and calendars.
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Signal Detection: Decision Making in Uncertainty
We all experience uncertainty: How did I do on that test? What do they think of me? Where did I leave my keys? Is my phone ringing? In these and other uncertain situations, we have to take the evidence we have and make our best guess about the answer. Sometimes we’re right, and sometimes we’re…
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How to Take Good Notes: Go Low-Tech
More and more students are opting to take notes on laptops to save trees and – they assume – take better notes. But is this assumption correct? According to the findings UCLA’s Dr. Danny Oppenheimer recently published in Psychological Science , these students are wrong: in a study of note-taking comparing handwritten to typed notes, Meuller…
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Serial: the Case of Memory
Serial has quickly become an international obsession. From the master storytellers of This American Life, the focal story of the inaugural season is about details surrounding the 1999 conviction of then high-school student Adnan Syed for the murder of ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee. A new episode is released every Thursday (this week will be the…
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What’s the Deal with Replication?
Wondering what the fun and fascinating stories were in the world of Psychology on Twitter this week? Let me tell you! The Psychology Twittersphere has been full of thoughts about a very important topic lately: Replication. If you remember back to your first science classes, replication is a key part of the scientific method! In…
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Memory in the Mountains: How Cognitive Psychology Can Improve Rock Climbing
“You can never climb the same mountain twice, not even in memory. Memory rebuilds the mountain, changes the weather, retells the jokes, remakes all the moves.” – Lito Tejada-Flores, Extreme Skiier, Climber and Author As Lito Tejada-Flores alludes, rock climbing and mountaineering depend as much on human memory as the physical environment in which…