Memory Observed brings together classic and contemporary essays to explore the processes of memory in real-life contexts. Covering such issues as childhood recollections, eyewitness testimony, special memory feats, and memories of famous individuals, the writings support the authors' thesis that understanding how human memory works requires greater emphasis on everyday situations and less on controlled laboratory experiments. The much-anticipated new edition has been thoroughly updated with over 40% new essays, increased coverage of early childhood memories and memories of traumatic events, and an expanded introductory section. Neisser offers a thought-provoking supplement for courses in memory, learning and cognition.
Misconceptions about memory phenomena often go hand-in-hand with popular misrepresentations of its function in media. In Popular Myths about Memory, Brian H. Bornstein examines how the representation of memory in novels, movies, and television shows often clashes with scientific research. Bornstein discusses the consequences of these myths on the popular understanding of memory and its functions. Depictions of amnesia, eyewitness accounts, and superior memory are just a few of the processes explored and debunked. This book is recommended for scholars interested in psychology, media and film studies, literary studies, and communication studies.
The brain ... There is no other part of the human anatomy that is so intriguing. How does it develop and function and why does it sometimes, tragically, degenerate? The answers are complex. In Discovering the Brain, science writer Sandra Ackerman cuts through the complexity to bring this vital topic to the public. The 1990s were declared the "Decade of the Brain" by former President Bush, and the neuroscience community responded with a host of new investigations and conferences. Discovering the Brain is based on the Institute of Medicine conference, Decade of the Brain: Frontiers in Neuroscience and Brain Research. Discovering the Brain is a "field guide" to the brainâ€"an easy-to-read discussion of the brain's physical structure and where functions such as language and music appreciation lie. Ackerman examines: How electrical and chemical signals are conveyed in the brain. The mechanisms by which we see, hear, think, and pay attentionâ€"and how a "gut feeling" actually originates in the brain. Learning and memory retention, including parallels to computer memory and what they might tell us about our own mental capacity. Development of the brain throughout the life span, with a look at the aging brain. Ackerman provides an enlightening chapter on the connection between the brain's physical condition and various mental disorders and notes what progress can realistically be made toward the prevention and treatment of stroke and other ailments. Finally, she explores the potential for major advances during the "Decade of the Brain," with a look at medical imaging techniquesâ€"what various technologies can and cannot tell usâ€"and how the public and private sectors can contribute to continued advances in neuroscience. This highly readable volume will provide the public and policymakersâ€"and many scientists as wellâ€"with a helpful guide to understanding the many discoveries that are sure to be announced throughout the "Decade of the Brain."
The history of the Christian-Jewish relations is full of curious, intense, and occasionally tragic episodes. In the dialectical development of the Western monotheistic religions, Judaism plays the role of the “thesis”, of the origins and background for the rise of Christianity and Islam. With the rise of Christianity, Judaism was progressively marginalized, since it was denied the same essence and validity of Christianity, which grew immensely in terms of spiritual and secular power. Christian scholars since the Middle Ages looked at Judaism as at the “broken staff” in the evolutionist line of religion, to quote the insightful work of the late Frank E. Manuel. At the same time, while re-discovering Judaism, Christian scholars redefined themselves, and Christianity as well. However, while Christianity encompassed many sects and many nations, the relatively weak diversity within Judaism, the religion of a single nation, seemed to hinder its evolution and development. While the intellectual battle was fought in a scholarly way, the emergence of the Christian State condemned the Jews to perpetual discrimination and occasional toleration, until a lay State, Nazi Germany, threatened the survival of the Jewish people. Neutral controversial works became powerful extermination tools when used in the political arena. This volume casts light on some crucial episodes in the long dialectics within the same intellectual and religious framework, touching upon themes such as the conception of time future in the age of Spinoza, the early encounters of Judaism and Christianity in eighteenth-century England, the memory of the Shoah, and the political revolution present in the system of the Jewish Commonwealth. From early to late Modernity, there is a history of friendship and diffidence, mutual understanding and dramatic disagreements, which, even today, largely conditions the Western intellectual world.
On the occasion of his 75th birthday, Neil Kaplan's unparalleled influence in the field of international arbitration is celebrated in this book which comprises contributions from over twenty-five renowned international arbitration practitioners, all of whom credit Kaplan as having impacted the development of arbitration in their respective jurisdictions or professionally. The book is constructed as a three-part compendium as follows: • the Kaplan Lectures, an annual series established to bring some of the best minds in international arbitration to Hong Kong to address current and practical issues; • key decisions and arbitration awards rendered by Kaplan, with commentaries that make current the issues arising out of these judgments and also provide an in-depth analysis of important issues emanating from his treaty arbitration awards; • articles showcasing the reach of Kaplan's influence through reflections by several of his former assistants who are now making a mark in their own right in the international arbitration community. Arbitration practitioners will welcome this book for its practical analysis of some of the most discussed and debated 'hot issues' in arbitration law and practice today. In addition, the commentaries on Kaplan's key decisions offer especially insightful guidance for practitioners, academics and students in the field of international arbitration.
Most of us have been perplexed by a strange sense of familiarity when doing something for the first time. We feel that we have been here before, or done this before, but know for sure that this is impossible. In fact, according to numerous surveys, about two-thirds of us have experienced déjà vu at least once, and most of us have had multiple experiences. There are a number of credible scientific interpretations of déjà vu, and this book summarizes the broad range of published work from philosophy, religion, neurology, sociology, memory, perception, psychopathology, and psychopharmacology. This book also includes discussion of cognitive functioning in retrieval and familiarity, neuronal transmission, and double perception during the déjà vu experience.
