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The Seven Sins of Memory
Author(s) -
SCHACTER DANIEL L.,
CHIAO JOAN Y.,
MITCHELL JASON P.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1196/annals.1279.012
Subject(s) - misattribution of memory , forgetting , psychology , cognitive psychology , memory errors , cognition , false memory , neuropsychology , episodic memory , recall , neuroscience
A bstract : We examine the relation between memory and self by considering errors of memory. We draw on the idea that memory's imperfections can be classified into seven basic categories or “sins.” Three of the sins concern different types of forgetting ( transience , absent‐mindedness , and blocking ), three concern different types of distortion ( misattribution , suggestibility , and bias ), and one concerns intrusive memories ( persistence ). We focus in particular on two of the distortion‐related sins, misattribution and bias. By describing cognitive, neuropsychological, and neuroimaging studies that illuminate these memory sins, we consider how they might bear on the relation between memory and self.