On Authenticating and Using Personal Recollections

Abstract

If there is one topic that binds the various subdisciplines of psychology together, it is memory. The social psychologist examining attitudes or interpersonal conflict, the cognitive psychologist studying learning or decision making, the developmental psychologist researching the growth of cognitive or social capacities, the clinical psychologist investigating maladaptive perceptions or behaviors, all consider how the cognitive or emotional residues of individuals’ past experiences influence their current thoughts, feelings, or behavior.