Memory distortions and their prevention

the long version

The topics covered in Memory Distortions and Their Prevention range over many kinds of memory distortions, from perceptual ones, including how we are able to recognize faces when the actually perceived faces have been obscured by hats, scarves, or eyeglasses, to spatial distortions. The authors discuss memory slips, forgetting, the role of expectation, memory deficits in the elderly, collaborative memory (using the clever device of married couples as long-time collaborators), and memory for procedures versus memory for declarative statements. Each chapter makes recommendations for how to avoid memory distortions. The last two chapters explicitly address methods for combating distortions: the intriguing "method of ignorance" and the developing field of cognitive technology. Because of its practical as well as theoretical significance, this volume will be of interest to basic and applied cognitive psychologists alike.