Science of Memory: Concepts

The study of learning and memory occurs in several scientific traditions: neurobiology, neurogenetics, neurochemistry; animal learning and behaviour; behavioural neuroscience; ethological and evolutionary approaches; cognitive psychology; neuropsychology, computational modelling, and artifical intelligence all contribute. However, researchers using one approach typically work in relative isolation from those using other approaches. The aim of the volume is to bring together leading researchers in the various fields of learning and memory to discuss the field's core concepts, across disciplinary boundaries, with the hope that such discussion will enhance and reorient the field and lead to a more unified science of memory. Science of Memory: Concepts is not to be simply another edited volume that reports research by contributors, but rather a searching examination of 16 fundamental concepts in the field. For each, three position papers describe how the concept is viewed in the author's particular tradition. There is an integrator for each concept, who will pull together the main themes from the various contributions and elucidates key points of agreement and disagreement. The volume will begin with an introductory chapter by Yadin Dudai, Roddy Roediger, and Endel Tulving, and will end with a concluding chapter by Susan Fitzpatrick. Science of Memory is essential reading for professional researchers and students in all the various fields of learning and memory.

Table of Contents:
Preface Acknowledgements Contributors 1: Memory Concepts, Yadin Dudai, Henry L. Roediger III, and Endel Tulving Part I: Memory 2: It's all about Representations, Yadin Dudai 3: Why the Engram is Elusive, Morris Moscovitch 4: Delineating the Core, Daniel L. Schacter 5: Integrative Comments: Distinctions and Dilemmas, Richard Morris Part II: Learning 6: The Concept of "Learning," Robert Rescorla 7: Basic Concepts in Associative Theories of Animal Learning, Anthony Dickinson 8: Understanding Learning: Specific Challenges in Merging Levels of Analysis, Elizabeth A. Phelps 9: Integrative Comments: Multiple Mechanisms for Learning, Steve Petersen Part III: Coding and Representation 10: Time, Space, History, and Beyond, Alessandro Treves 11: The Importance of Mesoscale Dynamics, Randy McIntosh 12: Searching for a Home in the Brain, Endel Tulving 13: Integrative Comments: On Appealing Beliefs and Paucity of Data, Misha Tsodyks Part IV: Plasticity 14: New Concepts in Plasticity and New Challeneges they Create, John H. Byrne 15: Plasticity Underlying Learning and Memory, Chris De Zeeuw 16: Plasticity on the Level, John Bruer 17: Integrative Comments: Plasticity--More than Memory, Evard Moser Part V: Context 18: What's so Special about Context?, Michael Fanselow 19: Mood, Memory, and the Concept of Context, Eric Eich 20: Context and Human Memory, Steven Smith 21: Integrative Comments: Integrating the Concept of Context Across the Human and Animal Memory Domains, Mark E. Bouton Part VI: Encoding 22: Encoding: The Need for Models Linking Neural Mechanisms to Behavior, Michael Hasselmo 23: Memory Encoding: A Cognitive Perspective, Fergus Craik 24: Integrative Comments: Encoding as a Concept, Lila Davachi Part VII: Working Memory 25: Observing Working Memory in the Brain, Wendy Suzuki 26: Multiple Models, Multiple Components, Alan Baddeley 27: Working Memory: What It Is, and What It Is Not 28: Integrative Comments: The Mind is Richer than the Models, Randall W. Engle Part VIII: Consolidation 29: Molecular Restlessness, Alcino Silva 30: Challenging the Traditional View, Joseph LeDoux 31: The Demise of the Fixed Trace, Lynn Nadel 32: Integrative Comments: From Hypothesis to Pardigm and Back, Susan Sara Part IX: Persistence 33: Necessary, but not Sufficient, Howard Eichenbaum 34: Discrepancies between Behaviors and Brains, Richard F. Thompson 35: Integrative Comments: In Search of Molecular Persistence, John Lisman Part X: Retrieval 36: Molecular Mechanisms in Memory Retrieval, J. David Sweatt 37: Properties of Memory Retrieval, Norman E. Spear 38: Essence of Retrieval and Related Concepts, John Gardiner 39: Integrative Comments: Varieties of Retrieval, Kathleen McDermott Part IX: Remembering 40: Remembering: Thoughts on Its Definition and Measurement, Andrew Yonelinas 41: Remembering, Martin Conway 42: Metacognitive Monitoring and Control Processes in Remembering, Asher Koriat 43: Integrative Comments: Rememebering--An Integative View, Suparna Rajaram Part XII: Transfer 44: The Transfer to Neurobiology, Yadin Dudai 45: A Memory Analysis of Transfer in Rats and Other Species, E. J. Capaldi 46: Rediscovering Transfer as a General Concept, Mark McDaniel 47: Specificity and Generality of Transfer, Alice Healy 48: Integrative Comments: Transfer as a Critical Concept in the Science of Memory, Henry L. Roediger III Part XIII: Inhibition 49: Diversity of Cortical Functions is Secured by Inhibitory Mechanisms, Gyorgy Buzsaki 50: Inhibition: An Attentional Control Mechanism, Lynn Hasher 51: Inhibition in Long-Term Memory, Michael C. Anderson 52: Cognitive Inhibition: Elusive or Illusion?, Colin M. MacLeod 53: Integrative Comments: Inhibition as an Essential and Contentious Concept in Memory, Robert A. Bjork Part XIV: Forgetting 54: Forgetting's all about Representations, Michael Davis 55: A Key Question, Elizabeth Loftus 56: The Role of Forgetting in the Science of Memory, David Rubin 57: Integrative Comments: Forgetting is Not the Opposite of Remembering, John Wixted Part XV: Memory Systems 58: Memory Systems as a Biological Concept, Larry Squire 59: Memory Systems in the Brain, Edmund T. Rolls 60: Memory System as a Cognitive Construct for Analysis and Synthesis, Marcia K. Johnson 61: Integrative Concepts: Memory Systems as a Concept, Randy Buckner Part XVI: Phlogeny/Evolution 62: Evolutionary Concepts in the Science of Memory, Nicola Clayton 63: An Evolutionary Approach to Learning and Memory: Comparison on Multiple Levels, Randolf Menzel 64: Evolution and the Concept of Memory: Implications for Understanding the Nature of a Memory System, Stanley Klein 65: Integrative Comments: Science of Memory--Evolution, Phylogeny, and Ecology, Sara Shettleworth 66: Remember the Future, susan M. Fitzpatrick Endnotes References

About the Author :
Henry L. Roediger III is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor at Washington University in St. Louis. Yadin Dudai is the Sela Professor of Neurobiology at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel. Susan M. Fitzpatrick is Vice President of the James S. McDonnell Foundation.

Review :
"Science of Memory: Concepts will easily move the field toward truly multidisciplinary approaches that are indeed the engines of science. To the scientist of memory who might sometimes feel trapped by his or her own research tradition, this text holds the key to understanding what the entire field knows about these concepts at many levels of analysis. Anyone claiming to study memory must read this book as it will prove absolutely integral in equipping our students with the knowledge that is needed to be a successful in the multidisciplinary study of memory; it has the truly exciting emergent property of instilling in the reader that the science of memory has many exciting, uncharted caverns that need further exploration. This is destined to be a must-read blockbuster for both the new and the old who are dedicated to understanding memory." --Richard L. Marsh, Professor of Psychology, University of Georgia "It is high time that a compendium of the big-picture issues associated with interdisciplinary research in the behavioral and cognitive neurosciences be assembled. In providing analyses that go beyond the methodological confines of their own specific research programs, many of the authors are refreshingly candid in articulating the rather extensive gaps in knowledge that remain in their own areas after decades of research. This volume represents an important reference that should be required reading for seasoned investigators as well as researchers who are just beginning their research careers in neuroscientific investigations of memory." --James H. Neely, Professor of Psychology, University at Albany, State University of New York "This is a fascinating set of essays on key concepts in the memory and learning area, some of which have been neglected in recent research. The book should prove extremely useful to both students and researchers." --Hal Pashler, Professor of Psychology, University of California, San Diego "Whats what in memory by a true whos who in memory research; this volume spans the gamut of memory research from molecules to human behaviors at the highest level. In this age of scientific specialization it is refreshing to encounter such a splendid cross-disciplinary synthesis of the science of memory. It is much needed." --Marcus E. Raichle, Professor of Radiology, Neurology, Anatomy and Neurobiology, and Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis "This volume gracefully achieves the rare academic triple: it is novel, comprehensive, and accessible. Whether your background is studying animals or humans, neurons or genes, brains or behavior, this volume will connect you to the larger endeavor of understanding memory and creating a unified science of it." --Barbara A. Spellman, Associate Professor of Psychology, University of Virginia "[This book] stands alone among edited volumes on memory research, unique in intention and scope...To the degree that Science of Memory: Concepts inspires us to think more generally about the relationship between various learning and memory traditions, it will have broad academic appeal."--PsycCritiques "Science of Memory: Concepts will easily move the field toward truly multidisciplinary approaches that are indeed the engines of science. To the scientist of memory who might sometimes feel trapped by his or her own research tradition, this text holds the key to understanding what the entire field knows about these concepts at many levels of analysis. Anyone claiming to study memory must read this book as it will prove absolutely integral in equipping our students with the knowledge that is needed to be a successful in the multidisciplinary study of memory; it has the truly exciting emergent property of instilling in the reader that the science of memory has many exciting, uncharted caverns that need further exploration. This is destined to be a must-read blockbuster for both the new and the old who are dedicated to understanding memory." --Richard L. Marsh, Professor of Psychology, University of Georgia "It is high time that a compendium of the big-picture issues associated with interdisciplinary research in the behavioral and cognitive neurosciences be assembled. In providing analyses that go beyond the methodological confines of their own specific research programs, many of the authors are refreshingly candid in articulating the rather extensive gaps in knowledge that remain in their own areas after decades of research. This volume represents an important reference that should be required reading for seasoned investigators as well as researchers who are just beginning their research careers in neuroscientific investigations of memory." --James H. Neely, Professor of Psychology, University at Albany, State University of New York "This is a fascinating set of essays on key concepts in the memory and learning area, some of which have been neglected in recent research. The book should prove extremely useful to both students and researchers." --Hal Pashler, Professor of Psychology, University of California, San Diego "Whats what in memory by a true whos who in memory research; this volume spans the gamut of memory research from molecules to human behaviors at the highest level. In this age of scientific specialization it is refreshing to encounter such a splendid cross-disciplinary synthesis of the science of memory. It is much needed." --Marcus E. Raichle, Professor of Radiology, Neurology, Anatomy and Neurobiology, and Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis "This volume gracefully achieves the rare academic triple: it is novel, comprehensive, and accessible. Whether your background is studying animals or humans, neurons or genes, brains or behavior, this volume will connect you to the larger endeavor of understanding memory and creating a unified science of it." --Barbara A. Spellman, Associate Professor of Psychology, University of Virginia "[This book] stands alone among edited volumes on memory research, unique in intention and scope...To the degree that Science of Memory: Concepts inspires us to think more generally about the relationship between various learning and memory traditions, it will have broad academic appeal."--PsycCritiques