Michael Gruneberg Aspects of memory

Gruneberg, Michael & Morris, Peter (eds.): Aspects of memory. Vol. 1: The practical aspects. 2nd ed. London and New York: Routledge, 1992.

Content: eyewitness testimony; face memory; memory disorders; memory and aging; memory improvement; memory aids; remembering to do things; autobiographical memory.

Authors' qualifications: The editors are both senior academics with a long history of work in the field of memory improvement. The contributors are all experts in their fields.

Readability: Readable for academic prose, but it is aimed at students and researchers.

Accuracy: This is an academic text, by experts in the field. Yes, it is accurate.

Currency: The book was first published in 1978, and (considerably) updated in 1992. Most of the references date from the latter half of the 1980s.

Comprehensiveness: The editors selected areas of applied memory research where they considered significant advances had been made in the previous 15 years (since the 1st edition). The major part of research into memory has been, and still is, without direct relevance to the person in the street; it would be fair to say that practical applications of memory research have been very much the poor relation. However, the past 20 years has seen much more interest in this area, and this is an excellent book to give an overview of the field.

Amount of background knowledge assumed: As I say, this is aimed at students and researchers in the field. However, an educated reader with a serious interest in memory would have little trouble with most of it. It is clearly written.

Usefulness: Helpful in deepening an existing knowledge of memory - I wouldn't leap into this if you're a neophyte in the area. If you've already read a number of books on memory, this book can provide a "harder" - more fact-based, more precise - foundation for your understanding.

Memorability: While it is not designed as an undergraduate textbook (with summaries, reviews, charts and lists, etc), the chapters are well-organized, with plenty of headings, and a conclusion section.

Interest: This isn't a book of anecdotes and personal experiences. If you're interested in memory, there's a lot of interesting information, but this is a scholarly book, it's not trying to fascinate you.

Balance: The practical aspects of memory research cover legal problems (court-room evidence), clinical practice, educational applications, and everyday situations. The book takes a cognitive approach.

Availability: Amazon claims it is out of print, but I picked it up at my local university bookshop last year (for NZ$54 - c US$25). Many university libraries will probably have it; public libraries less likely.

Length: around 250 pages

Includes an index, references.

Overall rating (reflects my own opinion of the book’s worth, not its usefulness to you): *****