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Human Memory
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Human Memory
Structures and Images

November 2006 | 472 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
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"Howes' new textbook, Human Memory, offers a thorough and expansive introduction to the science of remembering and forgetting. With highly accessible prose, Howes keeps the student clearly in mind as she deftly weaves together traditional and novel approaches to memory research. Unlike any other memory textbook on the market . . . it looks to be a definite winner in the classroom."
—James S. Nairne, Purdue University

Presented in a clear and accessible format, Human Memory: Structures and Images offers students a comprehensive overview of research in human memory. Providing a theoretical background for the research, author Mary B. Howes covers three major areas—mainstream experimental research; naturalistic research; and work in the domains of the amnesias, malfunctions of memory, and neuroscience.

Key Features:

  • Presents extensive coverage of naturalistic research: Areas of current naturalistic research, such as eyewitness testimony and courtroom procedures, are included, as are the functioning of memory under atypical or abnormal conditions and traumatic and repressed memories.
  • Emphasizes the constructivist position: Offering greater coverage than other books on this model of memory, this text also examines the debate between constructivist and nonconstructivist theories.
  • Offers two chapters online on computers and memory: Chapter 1 on computer functioning simulation of memory and Chapter 2 on computer models of long-term memory are easily accessed online. See Human Memory in our online catalog at www.sagepub.com and click on "Sample Materials" to view these chapters.
  • Supplies instructors with thoughtfully crafted support material: An Instructor's Resources CD-ROM, including PowerPoint slides, study quizzes, test items, and worksheets, is available to all qualified adopters.

Intended Audience:

This text is designed for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses such as Memory, Human Memory, Memory and Cognition, and Memory and Forgetting.

 
Preface: An Introduction to the Nature of Human Memory
 
1. Memory: Historical and Current Perspectives
The Classic Model of Memory: Aristotle

 
Empiricism

 
Rationalism

 
Constructivism

 
Computer Models

 
The Study of Memory

 
Methodology and Research Traditions

 
Summary

 
 
2. Mainstream Foundations: The Associative Model of Memory
Ebbinghaus: Origins of the Associative Model

 
The Verbal Learning Tradition

 
List Learning and Serial Recall Curves

 
Interference Theory

 
Consolidation Theory

 
The Classic Associative Tradition

 
Interference Theory 1940s-1980s

 
Summary

 
Discussion

 
 
3. Sensory Memory
The Information Processing Tradition

 
Sensory Memory: General Properties

 
Masking

 
Output Interference

 
Echoic Memory

 
Summary

 
Discussion

 
 
4. Verbal Short-Term Memory
General Properties of Verbal Short-Term Memory

 
Codes in Verbal STM

 
Word Length

 
The Events that Occur When Information Enters Verbal STM

 
Forgetting in Verbal STM

 
Factors that Eliminate or Diminish Short-Term Forgetting

 
Cues and Verbal STM

 
Research Into Manipulations that Influence STM Recall

 
Models of Verbal Short-Term Memory

 
Summary

 
Discussion

 
 
5. Working Memory
Attention and Working Memory

 
Emergence of the Concept of Working Memory from Short-Term Memory

 
Models of Working Memory: Structural Assumptions

 
Capacity Theories of Working Memory

 
Working Memory as Strongly Activated Content

 
Working Memory in ACT

 
Loss of Information from WM: Ongoing Research

 
A Cueing Model of WM

 
WM as Attentional Capacity

 
The Genevan View

 
Inhibition of Unwanted Material

 
Domain-Specific Versus General Capacity Assumptions

 
WM and Phenomenological Experience

 
Summary

 
Discussion

 
 
6. Long-Term Memory: Foundations
Memory Stores

 
Spread of Encoding Versus Meaningfulness

 
Entry of Information into LTM

 
Retrieval of Information from LTM: Cues

 
Separate Memory Stores for Different Kinds of Information

 
Encoding Specificity

 
Single-Stage and Two-Stage Models of Retrieval

 
Recognition Memory

 
Signal Detection Theory

 
Summary

 
Discussion

 
 
7. Long-Term Memory: Ongoing Research
Spreading Activation Models

 
Propositional Coding: The Representation of Semantic Content

 
Secondary Cues, Recursive Processing, and Ecphory

 
Cyclical Retrieval/Global Memory Models

 
Priming and Spreading Activation Models

 
False Memory for Word Items

 
Context and Memory

 
Output Interference in LTM

 
Summary

 
Discussion

 
 
8. Constructivism
Constructivism: Basic Tenets

 
Bartlett

 
Piaget: The Genevan View

 
Constructivism in Mainstream Psychology

 
Summary

 
 
9. Memory Change: Alterations in the Components of a Memory
Postevent Information and Memory Change

 
Nonconstructivist Models of Memory Change

 
Constructivist Models of Memory Change

 
Research Data Relating to Constructivist and Nonconstructivist Models

 
Is Incorrect Information Incorporated into the Experienced Memory

 
Source Monitering

 
Inference and Suggestion in Eyewitness Recollection

 
Memory for Faces

 
Eyewitness and Investigative Procedures

 
Emotion and Eyewitness Testimony

 
Summary

 
Discussion

 
 
10. Long-Term Memory: Higher Order Structures
Inferences

 
Spatial Contexts

 
Context Effects: A Thoery of Spatial Relations, Motions, and Constraint

 
Mental Models

 
Story Schemas

 
Schank's Model of Knowledge Structures and Goal-Based Theory

 
Kintsch's Model of Prose Comprehension

 
Inferences, the Situation Model, and Knowledge Structures: Ongoing Research

 
What Inferences are Generated in Natural Text Comprehension?

 
Summary

 
Discussion

 
 
11. Autobiographical Memory
First Recollections

 
Causes of Childhood Amnesia

 
Fragment Memories

 
The Nature of Autobiographical Memory

 
Hierarchical Structure in Autobiographical Memory

 
Access and Retrieval in Autobiographical Memory

 
Accuracy and Distortion in Adult Recall

 
Goals, Perspective, and Meaning

 
Positive and Negative Affect in Episodic Memory

 
The Nature of Flashbulb Memory

 
Summary

 
Discussion

 
 
12. Memory for Images
The Strength of Visual Memory

 
Weakness of Visual Memory

 
The Debate Over Coding

 
Propositional Versus Analog Codes: The Experimental Research

 
Neuroimaging Studies

 
Perception and Memory Images: Deployment of the Same Neural Structures

 
Kosslyn's Theory of Image Generation

 
Eidetic Imagery

 
Hypermnesia

 
 
13. Implicit Memory
Perceptual and Semantic Priming

 
Implicit Memory: Major Issues

 
Structural/Activation Theory

 
Processing/Episodic Models of Priming

 
Unconscious Perception and Priming

 
Interference in Implicit Memory

 
Implicit Memory as a Separate Memory System

 
Priming as Transfer of Processing

 
Associative Learning

 
Monitoring of Frequency and Temporal Information

 
Complex Associative Learning

 
Implicit Processing and Emotion

 
Summary

 
Discussion

 
 
14. Traumatic Memory and False Memory
Memory and PTSD

 
Controlled Observational Research

 
Repression, Dissociation, and Consolidation Failure

 
An Epidemic of Recovered Memories

 
Satanic Rituals

 
Individuals Accused of Child Abuse

 
Recovered Memories: Empirical Findings

 
Trauma Associated with Incarceration: Memories of Concentration Camp Survivors

 
Memories of Crimes and Disasters

 
False Memories in Natural Contexts

 
False Memories in Young Children

 
Hypnosis and Memory

 
Summary

 
Discussion

 
 
15. Disorders of Memory
The Amnesic Syndrome

 
The Amnesic Syndrome: Theoretical Models

 
Deficit in Short-Term Recall

 
Frontal Lobe Damage

 
Loss of Memory for Selective Information

 
Reduplicative Paramnesia and Capgras Syndrome

 
Remediation

 
Memory and Aging

 
Dementia

 
Summary

 
Discussion

 
 
16. Neuroscience and Memory
The Neuron

 
The Human Brain

 
Neuroimaging Techniques

 
Memory Content and Distributed Processing

 
Strcutures that Mediate Memory

 
Memory Functions and Brain Structures: Neuroimaging Data

 
Storage of Declarative Memory Content: Perceptual Structures

 
Function and Location

 
Emotion and Memory

 
Intermediate Memory

 
 
17. Afterword
Why Do We Forget?

 
The Status of Information Coded on LTM

 
Meaning Codes and Higher Order Structures

 
Memory Change

 
Memories

 
Discussion

 

"Human Memory is an important text in memory science. It is expansive and in-depth, covering topics of theoretical importance and practical implication. The complete coverage allows a professor to teach the important theory that all students must be familiar with as well as many of the most contemporary issues in memory science."

Bennett Schwartz, Ph.D.
Florida International University

"Human Memory is truly comprehensive. It covers the essentials of memory as well as many theoretical perspectives. I look forward to assigning this book to my Learning and Memory class."

Roberto R. Heredia, Ph.D
Texas A&M International University

The text was comprehensive but not overbearing. The author struck the right balance between the basic principles and specific details as they related to memory and learning.

Mrs Ariana Durando
Psychology Dept, Cuny Queens College
June 26, 2013
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Key features
  • Provides greater coverage of naturalistic research (such as autobiographical or traumatic memory and memory change) and the constructivist position than found in competing books.  Naturalistic research includes topics of great inherent interest to undergraduate students.
  • A prologue introduces students to the nature of human memory, and a concluding epilogue integrates themes and issues (such as strong recall, forgetting, memory change, and false memories) from the book in a "big picture" sort of way.
  • Key terms are highlighted within the text when first introduced and defined in context, and chapters end with brief summaries and discussion questions.  Other pedagogical features may include an end-of-text glossary, boxes to highlight key studies, and highlighting of main points throughout each chapter.
  •  A chapter on Models of Long-Term Memory: Computer Simulations and an appendix on Computer Functioning are available online.

Sample Materials & Chapters

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

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