The role of working memory in language processing has become the focus of contemporary debates in psycholinguistics. These debates concern which aspects of language processing are vulnerable to working memory limitations, how working memory is best measured, and whether compensatory processes can offset working memory limitations.
Jane Austen's Art of Memory offers a radical new thesis about Jane Austen's construction of her art. It argues that, with the help of her tenacious memory, she engaged in friendly dialogue with her predecessors, the English writers, a process that the eighteenth century called 'imitation'. Her allusions, far from being random, thicken and complicate her novels in a manner that is poetic rather than mimetic.
The book pursues a usage-oriented strategy of language description by infusing it with the central concept of post-structural semiotics and literary theory - that of intertextual memory. Its principal claim is that all new facts of language are grounded in the speakers' memory of previous experiences of using language. It is a ""speech to speech"" model: every new fact of speech is seen as emerging out of recalled fragments that are reiterated and manipulated at the same time.
Richard Sorabji presents a brilliant exploration of the history of our understanding of the self, which has remained elusive and mysterious throughout the spectacular development of human knowledge of the outside world. He ranges from ancient to contemporary thought, Western and Eastern, to reveal and assess the insights of a remarkable variety of thinkers. He discusses a set of topics which are at the heart of our understanding of ourselves: personal identity; memory; the importance of seeing one's life as a whole; the relation between self, intellect, will, and agency; self-awareness...
The secrets of how to improve your memory are fascinatingly revealed by Tony Buzan. He teaches you how to improve your memory for names, numbers, dates and lists, and also for speeches, articles, poetry, and whole books. There are sections for card players, for people learning new languages and for those studying for exams, as well as an intriguing chapter on how to recall your dreams.
