Memory and Amnesia: An Introduction - Softcover

from reviews of the first edition: "This book is a pleasure to read. It is not often that one can say that of an introductory text, but Alan Parkin has written a beautifully lucid account... an outstanding introduction to the topic. " Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology "The book gives the reader a concise and extremely readable account of the relevant material, and yet provides sufficient detail and explanation to enable both students and other professional groups to appreciate the major trends in theory and research." American Journal of Psychology "I liked this book a lot, and will certainly recommend it for the courses I teach. The material is very up-to-date, and readers are taken to the cutting edge of research in cognitive neuropsychology. The book is written in a clear, readable style, and with humour, and the patients described appear as real people with concerning difficulties." Elaine Funnell, Royal Holloway, University of London "Professor Parkin's book will be a useful teaching tool. It is enjoyable and easy to read. I especially applaud the effort to bring together evidence from different sources to test hypotheses about cognitive processes. The orchestration of these diverse lines of investigation is the foundation of the emerging field of cognitive science. This effort is one of the primary distinctive features of the text." Professor Argye Hillis, Johns Hopkins University "Here at last is a text on the topic of amnesia we can recommend to the student who asks, "What is the first thing I should read? Where is an overview that doesn't get bogged down in details? How can this diverse field be viewed in its entirety? Now we can direct them to Parkin's book and be assured that it will satisfy all their requests." Laird Cermak . "This is a very good book. It is written in a refreshingly straightforward style with an almost total absence of jargon. It is up to date and the author always seems to get to the heart of the issues." Peter Meudell, British Journal of Psychology "Most readers, regardless of background, will most likely be fascinated by the contents of this book and many may be stimulated to follow up with more intensive study of memory and its disturbances." Contemporary Psychology Franz Weinert "The book gives a concise and extremely readable account of the relevant material, and yet provides sufficient detail and explanation to enable both psychology students and professional groups to appreciate the major trends in theory and research over the past 20 years." THES John Richardson "The book is written in a lively and lucid style, succeeds admirably in integrating an account of normal memory and amnesia, is generally accurate, sound, and fair, and is an outstanding introduction to the topic. " Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology [Of the new Edition] "The book is a good introduction to memory disorders for students who are new to the memory literature. It provides a comprehensive coverage of the area without going into too much technical detail. Also, in keeping with the style of the first edition, it is very well structured which makes the fairly difficult material readable and easy to understand. We will certainly recommend it to our students." Applied Cognitive Psychology

Memory and Amnesia: An Introduction provides a clear and comprehensive account of amnesia set in the context of our understanding of how normal memory operates. Part One provides the reader with an up-to-date survey of contemporary memory theories along with an account of the various methods for improving memory ability. Part Two begins with an overview of memory assessment which incorporates all important new developments, and focuses on the nature and explanation of the amnesic syndrome.

A new chapter deals with the emerging field of memory disorders linked to frontal lobe dysfunction, related to which is an entirely new approach to the study of age-related memory loss. The account of dementia is extended and includes an account of comparisons between different forms of the illness. The chapters on transient amnesic states and on psychogenic states are fully updated (including discussion of the false memory debate), and the significant advances in memory remediation are discussed in the last chapter.