Mediationism and the obfuscation of memory

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Philosophy of Mind

Background:

• Current memory theorizing is hindered by the doctrine of mediationism.
• Mediationism posits that memory is mediated by an internal memory trace.
• This approach has proven unfruitful and resistant to psychological investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To critique the prevailing mediationist framework in memory research.
• To propose an alternative approach focusing on memory experience and context.
• To highlight the advantages of rejecting mediationism for advancing memory science.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual analysis of the mediationism doctrine.
• Theoretical argumentation for an alternative research paradigm.
• Illustration of potential advantages through discussion.

Main Results:

• Mediationism is identified as a primary obstacle to progress in memory theorizing.
• Abandoning mediationism can shift focus from mechanistic explanations to laws and principles.
• Research can be redirected towards the subjective experience of memory and its contextual factors.

Conclusions:

• The rejection of mediationism is crucial for the advancement of memory science.
• An alternative framework emphasizing experience and context offers a more fruitful path for research.
• This shift promises to yield more robust theories and explanations of memory.