We tend to think of our memories as impressions of the past that remain fully intact, preserved somewhere inside our brains. In fact, we construct and reconstruct our memories every time we attempt to recall them. Memory Lane introduces readers to the cutting-edge science of human memory, revealing how our recollections of the past are constantly adapting and changing, and why a faulty memory isn鈥檛 always a bad thing.
Shedding light on what memory is and what it evolved to do, Ciara Greene and Gillian Murphy discuss the many benefits of our flexible yet fallible memory system, including helping us to maintain a coherent identity, sustain social bonds, and vividly imagine possible futures. But these flexible and easily distorted memories can also result in significant harm, leading us to provide erroneous eyewitness testimony or fall victim to fake news. Greene and Murphy explain why our flawed memories are not a failure of evolution but rather a byproduct of the perfectly imperfect way our minds have evolved to solve problems. They also grapple with important ethical questions surrounding the study and manipulation of memory.
Blending engaging storytelling with the latest science, the authors demonstrate how our continuous reconstruction of the past makes us who we are, helps us to interpret our experiences, and explains why no two trips down memory lane are ever quite the same.
Ciara Greene is associate professor in the School of Psychology at University College Dublin, where she leads the Attention and Memory Laboratory. Gillian Murphy is associate professor in the School of Applied Psychology at University College Cork and a funded investigator at Lero, the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Software. Emily Schwing is an award-winning broadcast journalist who can be heard as a voice artist on the New Scientist audio edition. She is the narrator of Torie Bosch’s “You Are Not Expected to Understand This” (Princeton) and Jacqueline Kennelly’s Burnt by Democracy.
"[Greene and Murphy] make a persuasive argument that forgetting has its benefits, even as the fascinating case studies show the many downsides of memory’s fallibility. Pop science readers will want to check out this splendid study."鈥�Publishers Weekly
“The powerful flexibility of our memories shines through brightly in this gem of a book by two brilliant memory scientists. For Greene and Murphy, memory is like a Lego tower—leaving out elements that really did happen and adding in new elements that didn’t—and is something to celebrate despite the pitfalls and perils that occasional misremembering causes. Their superb storytelling makes the book a joy to read.”—Elizabeth F. Loftus, University of California, Irvine
“Memory is the foundation for our sense of self and related psychological functions, but it is also prone to various kinds of errors and distortions. In Memory Lane, Ciara Greene and Gillian Murphy provide an engaging and insightful discussion of research from the lab and everyday life that illuminates the surprising ways in which memory works and explains why it can sometimes get us into trouble. I highly recommend this entertaining and informative book.”—Daniel L. Schacter, author of The Seven Sins of Memory
“Greene and Murphy not only provide a general overview of memory and its limitations, but also address many of the changes in technology and social media that we have experienced in recent years, which have raised important questions about misinformation, disinformation, and the factors that increase susceptibility to fake news. A unique, timely, and significant contribution.”—Brice Alan Kuhl, University of Oregon
“An engaging, accessible, and novel take on the normal and inevitable fallibility of human conscious memory.”—Jonathan Lee, University of Birmingham
