Review of Memory in Mind and Culture

Boyer, P. & Werstch, J V. (Eds.) (2009). Memory in Mind and Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 323pp. $32 ISBN 9780521758925 (Paperback).

In the book edited by Pascal Boyer and James Wertsch, memory is considered as a situated socio-cultural and cognitive activity, which is being constructed and co-constructed in history and time. Memory in Mind and Culture puts together contributions from leading anthropologists, cognitive psychologists, socio-cultural psychologists, neuroscientists and historians. The book also has ‘linking’ sections between the five major divisions, which work to frame and introduce the themes that will be discussed in the next division.

Some of the contributions try to overemphasize the role of cognitive psychology and experimental paradigms in socio-culturally oriented memory research. They present speculative outcomes regarding the manner in which their findings in the lab (and often only using college students as participants) could be applied to complex memory phenomena in the real world.

For a critical review of the book, please take a look at:

Bietti, L.M. (2011). Memory and culture in the mind. Review article of Memory in Mind and Culture by P. Boyer & J. Wertsch (eds.). Mind, Culture and Activity. doi: 10.1080/10749039.2011.564708