Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- List of contributors
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Empirical studies
- Part II Developmental studies
- Part III Emotion and memory
- Part IV Theoretical issues
- 11 Special versus ordinary memory mechanisms in the genesis of flashbulb memories
- 12 Remembering personal circumstances: A functional analysis
- 13 Constraints on memory
- 14 The theoretical and empirical status of the flashbulb memory hypothesis
- Author index
- Subject index
13 - Constraints on memory
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 March 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- List of contributors
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Empirical studies
- Part II Developmental studies
- Part III Emotion and memory
- Part IV Theoretical issues
- 11 Special versus ordinary memory mechanisms in the genesis of flashbulb memories
- 12 Remembering personal circumstances: A functional analysis
- 13 Constraints on memory
- 14 The theoretical and empirical status of the flashbulb memory hypothesis
- Author index
- Subject index
Summary
Commenting on this conference is a hard task. Every clever slant I could think of, and many I could not, were covered by comments in the continuing open discussion. I reflected on what others might do in this situation, and chose Allen Newell as a model. What he did to organize his discussion, on at least one occasion like this, was to spend half of his space on an issue not directly related to the papers of the conference. He had something worth saying that is as appropriate to this conference as it was to his, so I will just use his talk again. After all, he first gave his discussion in 1972 and we have heard here how confused memories can get over time. Newell began as follows.
I am a man who is half and half. Half of me is half distressed and half confused. Half of me is quite content and clear on where we are going.
My confused and distressed half has been roused by my assignment to comment on the papers of this symposium. It is curious that it should be so. We have just listened to a sample of the best work …
Psychology, in its current style of operation, deals with phenomena. … The number is so large it scares me. … [Our phenomenon is “flashbulb” memory.]
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- Chapter
- Information
- Affect and Accuracy in RecallStudies of 'Flashbulb' Memories, pp. 265 - 273Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1992
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