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Memory, Narrative, and the Consequences
1Department of Psychology, The American University of Paris.
Topics in Cognitive Science
|January 11, 2019
Summary
Memory research is shifting from individual focus to social and linguistic practices. This empirically grounded approach views memory as collaborative acts, not just internal storage.
Area of Science:
- Integrates evolutionary psychology, developmental psychology, and sociolinguistics.
- Focuses on memory research and the science of memory.
Background:
- Traditional memory sciences adopt an individual-centric orientation.
- Existing research often views memory as an internal substance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present an empirically grounded and theoretically reflected perspective on memory research.
- To highlight a paradigm shift away from individualistic memory models.
Main Methods:
- Synthesizes findings from evolutionary psychology, developmental psychology, and sociolinguistics.
- Analyzes the interplay between memory, language, social remembering, and narrative.
Main Results:
- Memory research is increasingly breaking from traditional individual-centric viewpoints.
- A new interest in the dialectics between memory and language is evident.
Conclusions:
- Memory should be understood as a set of practices, including intersubjective and interpretive acts.
- Shifts the conceptualization of memory from a static substance to dynamic social processes.
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