Distinctiveness and Memory

Research into the topic of distinctiveness and memory dates back over 100 years and boasts a literature of well over 2,000 published articles. Throughout this history, numerous theories of distinctiveness and memory have been offered and subsequently refined, yet there has never been a published survey of the current state of the research. This book represents the first such survey. It features sections on basic theory and behavioural research on distinctiveness, bizzareness effects, distinctiveness effects in implicit memory, the development of distinctiveness across the life-span, distinctiveness in social context, and the neuroscience of distinctiveness and memory. Each chapter contains a review of relevant literature. The final chapter by Fergus Craik, a pioneer of modern distinctiveness research, offers his current perspective on distinctiveness and evaluates the various views of distinctiveness expressed in the volume.