Originally published in 1986, this book was written for undergraduates who had completed an introductory course in psychology, and aimed to acquaint the student with the core of recent experimental findings and theoretical ideas concerning human memory. Each chapter deals with a specific area of memory research but care is taken to build on what has been covered in preceding chapters, so providing an integrated treatment of the subject. Thus, the book can comfortably be read from cover to cover, or selected issues can be referred to in isolation. Important features of the book include discussion of fundamental issues about the nature of the scientific process, the role of models and theories in it, and the historical development of models of human memory. Also, the treatment of ‘Forgetting’ includes chapters on motivational aspects (psychopathological forgetting, post-hypnotic amnesia, and directed forgetting), and organic amnesia.

As a conceptual framework for the investigation of human memory, the levels-of-processing paradigm had enjoyed immense popularity since its introduction in the early 1970s. It was the impetus behind literally hundreds of experiments and was used as an "explanation" for a wide range of retention phenomena. Consequently, a wealth of data and theory had emerged, and this title assimilates and evaluates this information. Originally published in 1979, the distinguished contributors to the volume – both proponents and opponents of the levels-of-processing framework – present here their latest data and ideas on a viewpoint that has been a tremendous influence in memory research and related areas.

Originally published in 1980, this title came about after many late night discussions between the authors during a 3-week workshop on Mathematical Approaches to Person Perception in 1974. In subsequent meetings a mutual interest emerged in the development of cognitive information processing metaphors for human thought and their application to problems of social perception, memory and judgment. Within the context of modern research on social cognition, the most distinctive aspects of the authors’ work was its empirical focus on how people cognitively represent people in memory, and its theoretical emphasis on models of cognitive organization and process. They concluded that an adequate theory of social memory was the necessary foundation for solutions to many questions concerning social perception and judgment that had dominated the 1974 workshop. This volume summarizes work conducted between 1974 and 1979 on social memory by these authors. In addition to six chapters summarizing individual research programs, the volume includes a general introduction and a concluding theoretical integration.

Originally published in 1977, the chapters in this volume offer a concise review of the research and new direction in the study of alcohol and cognition at the time. Each chapter has been prepared by an eminent researcher who was currently involved in investigating human cognitive behaviour. The chapters contain not just a dry summary of work done in the field, but descriptions of the impetus for the work that was done, problems in doing such work, knowledge that was gained, and suggestions for future research. Many new approaches are presented for the study of alcohol and memory, and for the understanding of results of studies already done. This was a forward-looking volume not only about directions for future research, but with solid contributions that review and integrate major areas of inquiry on the influence of alcohol on memory and behaviour at the time.

Originally published in 1982, this book brings together two areas of research previously studied in parallel, with little interaction (particularly in the US): normal memory processing and the amnesic syndrome. When trying to document the relationship between the two it became apparent that there was much crossover and duplication of effort in a number of areas: whether long-term memory and short-term memory truly represent independent storage systems, or are simply points on a continuum; trying to determine the primary locus of variables influencing the rate at which information is lost during retention; whether episodic memory and semantic memory represent two different storage systems, or are simply artifacts produced by different kinds of query to a single memory system and finally, whether visual and verbal memory are independent. It was written, following a meeting in 1979, by a small group of investigators, brought together to explore this commonality and to share data and theory, thus beginning the promise of a bright future of interdisciplinary interaction in memory research.

When this title was originally published in 1981, the information processing approach to perception and memory was dominant in experimental psychology, and the research reported here had major implications for future development. After exploring the shortcomings of earlier work in this field, the author develops a new model which he shows to be capable of accounting for a variety of experimental data connected with human information processing, visual perception and attention. The central theme which is discussed is how we select relevant and discard irrelevant information. The basic assumption is that all incoming information is identified, that is, it reaches and activates the appropriate lexical entries. A piece of identified information is described as a unit consisting of three distinguishable codes: a visual code, a lexical or semantic code and a motor or action code. Identified information decays fast, so selective attention operates by selecting those units which have to be saved from this rapid decay. In a sense, therefore, the human information processor is described as struggling against forgetting.

Originally published in 1979, this book contains papers presented at a conference held in 1977 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the University of Uppsala. Beyond the commemoration, the main reason for this conference was to get students of memory together to discuss and evaluate the memory research that had already been carried out, was presently underway and to speculate about the type of research in this area that would be carried out in the future. The contributors were specifically asked to concentrate on overall theoretical and metatheoretical questions at the cost of empirical problems. With chapters from many of the leading experts in the field this is an opportunity to enjoy some of their early insights.

‘Someday we expect that computers will be able to keep us informed about the news. People have imagined being able to ask their home computers questions such as "What’s going on in the world?"...’. Originally published in 1984, this book is a fascinating look at the world of memory and computers before the internet became the mainstream phenomenon it is today. It looks at the early development of a computer system that could keep us informed in a way that we now take for granted. Presenting a theory of remembering, based on human information processing, it begins to address many of the hard problems implicated in the quest to make computers remember. The book had two purposes in presenting this theory of remembering. First, to be used in implementing intelligent computer systems, including fact retrieval systems and intelligent systems in general. Any intelligent program needs to use and store and use a great deal of knowledge. The strategies and structures in the book were designed to be used for that purpose. Second, the theory attempts to explain how people’s memories work and makes predictions about the organization of human memory.

Connectionist modelling and neural network applications had become a major sub-field of cognitive science by the mid-1990s. In this ground-breaking book, originally published in 1995, leading connectionists shed light on current approaches to memory and language modelling at the time. The book is divided into four sections: Memory; Reading; Computation and statistics; Speech and audition. Each section is introduced and set in context by the editors, allowing a wide range of language and memory issues to be addressed in one volume. This authoritative advanced level book will still be of interest for all engaged in connectionist research and the related areas of cognitive science concerned with language and memory.

Originally published in 1978, this volume contains the evidence that is most crucial for our understanding the processes of forgetting and retention. Organized in terms of problem areas and issues that are particularly pertinent to understanding these processes, the book deals with both animal and human studies. The author begins by defining the topic and reviewing its historical development. A theoretical orientation follows, and then the author begins to address the major factors that determine what is, and what is not, remembered. Although we cannot yet specify the principles from which we can predict when an episode, once learned, will be remembered well or forgotten entirely, the author demonstrates that such principles are not that far away. He considers the issues that must be resolved before such principles are established, and in the course of doing so covers the major research on why we remember events and why they are forgotten.