The Adaptive Nature of Memory

Abstract

Abstract Most research on human memory has mainly focused on the question of understanding what memory does and not on why memory does what it does. There have been requests that the field focus more on the function of memory and perhaps as a consequence applied research on memory has been a growing field. Neisser (1976, 1978, 1982) argued that the field should adopt an “ecological approach” to memory and study how memory is used in the real world. He suggests that the principles of memory in the real world might be different from the ones uncovered in the laboratory.