Science of Memory

The study of learning and memory occurs in several scientific traditions: neurobiology, neurogenetics, neurochemistry; animal learning and behaviour; behavioural neuroscience; ethological and evolutionary approaches; cognitive psychology; neuropsychology, computational modelling, and artifical intelligence all contribute. However, researchers using one approach typically work in relative isolation from those using other approaches. The aim of the volume is to bring together leading researchers in the various fields of learning and memory to discuss the field's core concepts, across disciplinary boundaries, with the hope that such discussion will enhance and reorient the field and lead to a more unified science of memory. Science of Memory: Concepts is not to be simply another edited volume that reports research by contributors, but rather a searching examination of 16 fundamental concepts in the field. For each, three position papers describe how the concept is viewed in the author's particular tradition. There is an integrator for each concept, who will pull together the main themes from the various contributions and elucidates key points of agreement and disagreement. The volume will begin with an introductory chapter by Yadin Dudai, Roddy Roediger, and Endel Tulving, and will end with a concluding chapter by Susan Fitzpatrick. Science of Memory is essential reading for professional researchers and students in all the various fields of learning and memory.

Henry L. Roediger III is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor at Washington University in St. Louis. Yadin Dudai is the Sela Professor of Neurobiology at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel. Susan M. Fitzpatrick is Vice President of the James S. McDonnell Foundation.