City Research Online

Abstract

It is without question that our memory system evolved through a process of natural selection. However, basic research into the evolutionary foundations of memory has begun in earnest only recently. This is quite peculiar as the majority, perhaps even all, of memory research relates to whether memory is adaptive or not. In this Special Issue of Memory we have assembled a variety of papers that represent the cutting edge in research on the evolution of memory. These papers are centred on issues about the ultimate and proximate explanations of memory, the development of the adaptive functions of memory, as well as the positive consequences that arise from the current evolutionary form that our memory has taken. In this introductory article we briefly outline these different areas and indicate why they are vital for a more complete theory of memory. Further we argue that, by adopting a more applied stance in the area of the evolution of memory, one of the many future directions in this field could be a new branch of psychology that addresses questions in evolutionary legal psychology.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Memory on 4 June 2013, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/09658211.2013.800355
Publisher Keywords:	Adaptive memory, Evolution, Proximate mechanisms, Ultimate mechanisms, Memory and the law, Applications of memory
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Departments:	School of Health & Psychological Sciences > Psychology
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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