The Seven Sins of Memory: How the Mind Forgets and Remembers

Author: Daniel L. Schacter
Genre: Non-fiction (Psychology)
Date Finished: January 25, 2010

This book is a breakdown of the various unreliable traits of the human memory, how memory works (and doesn't), and how it is probably beneficial for us that we don't infallibly remember everything.

There is a brief mention of memory systems used for memorization and how they function by creating an extra cognitive load to help us remember the things we are trying to memorize.

The following various ways our memories are unreliable are covered:

1. The Sin of Transience


2. The Sin of Absent-mindedness


3. The Sin of Blocking


4. The Sin of Misattribution


5. The Sin of Suggestibility


6. The Sin of Bias


7. The Sin of Persistence

There is a final chapter that talks about how the infallibility traits of our memories are probably good and useful characteristics. For example, the lack of details allows us to easily generalize.