Remembering A Study in Experimental and Social Psychology

In 1932, Cambridge University Press published Remembering, by the psychologist Frederic Bartlett. The landmark book described fascinating studies of memory and presented the theory of schema which informs much of cognitive science and psychology today. In Bartlett's most famous experiment, he had subjects read a Native American story about ghosts and had them retell the tale later. Because their backgrounds were so different from the cultural context of the story, the subjects changed details in the story that they could not understand. Besides containing important seminal concepts, Remembering is fascinating from an historical perspective. Bartlett discusses the ideas and research of Ebbinghaus, Freud, Jung, and Spearman. In addition, his comparison of Swazi African culture and British culture is a study in cross-cultural psychology that was ahead of its time.

In 1932, Cambridge University Press published Remembering, by psychologist, Frederic Bartlett. The landmark book described fascinating studies of memory and presented the theory of schema which informs much of cognitive science and psychology today. In Bartlett's most famous experiment, he had subjects read a Native American story about ghosts and had them retell the tale later. Because their background was so different from the cultural context of the story, the subjects changed details in the story that they could not understand. Based on observations like these, Bartlett developed his claim that memory is a process of reconstruction, and that this construction is in important ways a social act. His concerns about the social psychology of memory and the cultural context of remembering were long neglected but are finding an interested and responsive audience today. Now reissued in paperback, Remembering has a new Introduction by Walter Kintsch of the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Part I. Experimental Studies: 2. Experiment in psychology; 3. Experiments on perceiving; III Experiments on imaging; 4-8. Experiments on remembering: (a) The method of description; (b) The method of repeated reproduction; (c) The method of picture writing; (d) The method of serial reproduction; (e) The method of serial reproduction; picture material; 9. Perceiving, recognizing, remembering; 10. A theory of remembering; 11. Images and their functions; 12. Meaning; Part II. Remembering as a Study in Social Psychology: 13. Social psychology; 14. Social psychology and the matter of recall; 15. Social psychology and the manner of recall; 16. Conventionalism; 17. The notion of a collective unconscious; 18. The basis of social recall; 19. A summary and some conclusions.

In 1932, Cambridge University Press published Remembering, by psychologist, Frederic Bartlett. The landmark book described fascinating studies of memory and presented the theory of schema which informs much of cognitive science and psychology today. Now reissued in paperback, Remembering has a new introduction by Walter Kintsch of the University of Colorado, Boulder.