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Ciara Greene is Associate Professor in the University College Dublin School of Psychology. In this episode we discuss Ciara's book Memory Lane: The Perfectly Imperfect Ways We Remember, co-authored by her colleague Gillian Murphy. The book is all about how human episodic memory works and why it works the way it does. Contrary to our common assumption, a "good memory" isn't necessarily highly accurate - we don't store memories like files in a filing cabinet. Instead our memories evolved to help us function in the world. That means our memories are flexible, constantly changing, and that forgetting can be beneficial, for example.
Regarding how our memories work, we discuss how memories are reconstructed each time we access them, and the role of schemas in organizing our episodic memories within the context of our previous experiences. Because our memories evolved for function and not accuracy, there's a wide range of flexibility in how we process and store memories. We're all susceptible to misinformation, all our memories are affected by our emotional states, and so on. Ciara's research explores many of the ways our memories are shaped by these various conditions, and how we should better understand our own and other's memories.
Read the transcript.
0:00 - Intro
5:35 - The function of memory
6:41 - Reconstructive nature of memory
13:50 - Memory schemas, highly superior autobiographical memory
20:49 - Misremembering and flashbulb memories
27:52 - Forgetting and schemas
36:06 - What is a "good" memory?
39:35 - Memories and intention
43:47 - Memory and context
49:55 - Implanting false memories
1:04:10 - Memory suggestion during interrogations
1:06:30 - Memory, imagination, and creativity
1:13:45 - Artificial intelligence and memory
1:21:21 - Driven by questions
