Cognitive Psychology: Memory

Memory

The second major area of study in cognitive psychology involves the investigation of memory. In the most generic sense, memory refers to the components of an information-processing system that support the encoding, storage and retrieval of information over time. Memory is the central, essential ingredient in the hu-man information-processing system. Human cognition supports operations more diverse by far than those of a computer, ranging from complex mathematical and spatial reasoning, to artistic and literary endeavors, to athletic prowess and interpersonal aware-ness. Memory is the substrate of these many skills and the foun-dation for human consciousness. To the extent that we are each more than the sum of our biological components, it is in large part the texture of our own unique memories that makes us so.

Over the course of the past century, the empirical efforts have led to an increasingly refined understanding of the inter-locking mechanisms that constitute human memory. This under-standing has begun to be applied to the domain of clinical assess-ment and psychopathology. Researchers have documented the role of memory deficits and biases in several mental disorders. The results of these investigations have suggested that memory, just as it plays an essential role in adaptive human functioning, may also play a central role in maladaptive, pathological func-tioning. The cognitive perspectives on psychopathology place an emphasis on the role of schematic memory bias in its contribution to various forms of psychiatric disorders, and corresponding psy-chotherapeutic techniques have been developed to address bias in memory (Beck, 1976; Beck et al., 1979).

For the purposes of this discussion, it is necessary to point out that the study of memory has become a useful adjunct to the cognitive perspectives on psychopathology. The central theme of these perspectives is an emphasis on maladaptive thinking in the genesis and maintenance of psychiatric disorders. Once granted the premise that dysfunctional thoughts and/or cognitive biases may play a pivotal role in the dynamics of psychopathology (Beck, 1976, 1983; Beck et al., 1979), it follows that memory may serve as a cognitive mediator in many forms of mental disorders; an extensive empirical literature has developed through efforts to test this premise.