This study promotes a new interpretation of involuntary autobiographical memories, a phenomenon previously defined as a sign of distress or trauma.

Involuntary memory was identified by the pioneering memoryresearcher Hermann Ebbinghaus more than a century ago, but it wasnot until very recently that cognitive psychologists began to studythis memory phenomenon. This book is the first to examine keytopics and cutting-edge research in involuntary memory. Discusses topics such as involuntary memories in everyday life,across the life-span, and in the laboratory; the special ways inwhich involuntary memories sometimes manifest themselves and anumber of theoretical treatments of the topic. Presents innovative research that not only represents thestarting point of the study of involuntary memory, but also placesit in such broader topics as autobiographical memory, consciousnessand memory, aging and memory, implicit and explicit memory,depression, and psychosis.

Reviews and integrates the many theories, perspectives and approaches in the field of autobiographical memory.

The topic of autobiographical memory has held a prominent role in memory research for the past 30 years, as it has proven indispensable to the understanding of human memory and cognition. An important focus of autobiographical memory research is uncovering the basic structure, nature, and organization of the autobiographical memory system. This book explores the organization and structure of autobiographical memory. Based on over thirty years of research, and the latest empirical findings, it presents the major theories and problems in the science of autobiographical memory organization. At its core are two influential global views on the organization, structure, and function of autobiographical memory (chapters 2 and 3). In addition, the volume examines the organization of autobiographical memory from a developmental perspective (chapter 4). It includes a chapter examining the neuroscience of autobiographical memory organization (chapter 7), and a chapter examining organization from a functional perspective (chapter 6). Also covered is the role of culture in forming autobiographical memory (chapter 5), the role of the self in organizing autobiographical memory (chapter 8), insights from the reminiscence bump on organization (chapter 9), and a chapter on the organization of episodic autobiographical memories (chapter 10). For students and researcher with an interest in memory, the volume is a timely and important addition to their literature.

A fabulous collection of essays on memory in the real world. The leading scholars have been assembled to produce a volume that is intellectually rich, up-to-date, and truly important. - Elizabeth F. Loftus, Distinguished Professor, University of California, Irvine "An invaluable resource for anyone wishing to access the current state of knowledge of, or contemplating research into, the growing area of applied memory research." - Graham Davies, Editor, Applied Cognitive Psychology The SAGE Handbook of Applied Memory is the first of its kind to focus specifically on this vibrant and progressive field. It offers a broad and comprehensive coverage of recent theoretical and empirical research advances in the psychology of memory as they apply to a range of applied issues, and offers advanced students and researchers the opportunity to survey the literature in the psychology of memory across a range of applied domains. Arranged into four sections: Everyday Memory; Social and Individual Differences in Memory; Subjective Experience of Memory; and Eyewitness Memory, this handbook provides a comprehensive summary and evaluation of scientific memory research as well as theory in a broad range of applied topics including those in cognitive, forensic and experimental psychology. Brought together by world-leading scholars from across the globe, The SAGE Handbook of Applied Memory will be of great interest to all advanced students and academics with an interest in all aspects of applied memory.

Where do spontaneous thoughts come from? It may be surprising that the seemingly straightforward answers "from the mind" or "from the brain" are in fact an incredibly recent understanding of the origins of spontaneous thought. For nearly all of human history, our thoughts - especially the most sudden, insightful, and important - were almost universally ascribed to divine or other external sources. Only in the past few centuries have we truly taken responsibility for their own mental content, and finally localized thought to the central nervous system - laying the foundations for a protoscience of spontaneous thought. But enormous questions still loom: what, exactly, is spontaneous thought? Why does our brain engage in spontaneous forms of thinking, and when is this most likely to occur? And perhaps the question most interesting and accessible from a scientific perspective: how does the brain generate and evaluate its own spontaneous creations? Spontaneous thought includes our daytime fantasies and mind-wandering; the flashes of insight and inspiration familiar to the artist, scientist, and inventor; and the nighttime visions we call dreams. This Handbook brings together views from neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, phenomenology, history, education, contemplative traditions, and clinical practice to begin to address the ubiquitous but poorly understood mental phenomena that we collectively call 'spontaneous thought.' In studying such an abstruse and seemingly impractical subject, we should remember that our capacity for spontaneity, originality, and creativity defines us as a species - and as individuals. Spontaneous forms of thought enable us to transcend not only the here and now of perceptual experience, but also the bonds of our deliberately-controlled and goal-directed cognition; they allow the space for us to be other than who we are, and for our minds to think beyond the limitations of our current viewpoints and beliefs.

Mental imagery refers to the mental simulation or recreation of perceptual experience across different sensory modalities. The exploration of mental imagery represents a new and important area within clinical psychology, but arguably one still in its infancy. While mental imagery has featured prominently in recent theoretical accounts of disorders as diverse as post-traumatic stress disorder, phobia, body dysmorphic disorder, mood disorders, and psychosis, there remains an insufficiently strong theoretical and methodological foundation to enable comparison of the role of imagery across such different disorders. The current research topic presents a diverse range of cutting-edge papers focusing on investigating the underlying mechanisms and/or treatment interventions associated with mental imagery in clinical disorders, with the goal of helping establish those common elements most clinically relevant when investigating mental imagery. The research topic comprises fifteen articles drawn from the fields of psychiatry, psychology, and neuroscience. This is a unique collection of articles that combine different perspectives from the field of clinical psychology with more diverse perspectives drawn from the wider literature on mental imagery. The original research studies and theoretical articles presented are organised around four main chapters that cover imagery and eye movements, imagery and craving, imagery and autobiographical memory, and imagery and clinical disorders. We believe that the range of submissions presented in the research topic make a strong contribution to helping establish a theoretical and methodological foundation that can enable the effective study of imagery across different disorders and domains.

The first volume devoted solely to autobiographical memory retrieval, The Act of Remembering serves as a primer of ideas, methodology, and central topics, and lays the groundwork for future research in the field. Contains new, forward-looking theories from leading international scholars Answers questions such as: Do we retrieve memories according to when and where we need them? How much conscious control do we have over what we remember? Why are some people more likely than others to have intrusive ‘flashbacks’ following a stressful event? Pays particular attention to voluntary and involuntary recall

This book provides a complete survey of research and theory on human memory in three major sections. A background section covers issues of the history of memory, and basic neuroscience and methodology. A core topics section discusses sensory registers, mechanisms of forgetting, and short-term/working, nondeclarative, episodic, and semantic memory. Finally, a special topics section includes formal models of memory, memory for space and time, autobiographical memory, memory and reality, and more. Throughout, the author weaves applications from psychology, medicine, law, and education to show the usefulness of the concepts in everyday life and multiple career paths. Opportunities for students to explore the assessment of memory in laboratory-based settings are also provided. Chapters can be covered in any order, providing instructors with the utmost flexibility in course assignments, and each one includes an overview, key terms, Stop and Review synopses, Try it Out exercises, Improving Your Memory and Study in Depth boxes, study questions, and Putting It All Together and Explore More sections. This text is intended for undergraduate or graduate courses in human memory, human learning and memory, neuropsychology of memory, and seminars on topics in human memory. It can also be used for more general cognitive psychology and cognitive science courses. New to this edition: - Now in full color. - More tables, graphs, and photos to help students visualize concepts. -Improving Your Memory boxes highlight the practical aspects of memory, and Study in Depth boxes review the steps of how results were constructed. -The latest memory research on the testing effect, the influences of sleep, memory reconsolidation, childhood memory, the default mode network, neurogenesis, and more. -Greater coverage of neuroscience, fMRIs, and other recent advances such as NIRS and pupilometry. -A website at www.routledge.com/cw/radvansky with outlines, review points, chapter summaries, key terms with definitions, quizzes, and links to related websites, videos, and suggested readings for students as well as PowerPoints, multiple-choice and essay questions, discussion questions, and a conversion guide for current adopters for instructors.