Memory Is a Highly Complex,

Memory is a highly complex, nuanced and often confounding concept. The readings considered this week underscore these characteristics, demonstrating the various overlapping forces that conspire to create, retain or recall memories on an individual and collective level. The readings encountered here demonstrate that memory is driven by a host of factors whose influence may vary significantly.

For instance, the text by Caygill points to the concept of 'cultural memory,' indicating that the induction of certain socially-enforced memory cues is inextricable from individual experiential memory. Moreover, the work by Caygill finds, it may be difficult or impossible for the individual to distinguish the source of one's memories. Also difficult, the research by Caygill points out, is distinguishing between memories which are anatomically stored in the brain and those which are instead the consequence of some neurological function which invokes said memory. Caygill's article carries tremendous ramifications in such areas as the treatment of neurological trauma or brain damage.

The article by Sutton et al. confirms the notion put forth in the text by Caygill that "the processes of memory are simultaneously natural and cultural." (Sutton et al., p. 209) Sutton et al. point out that there is a distinct value in perceiving memory as having multiple sources and of being multi-stratified in its nature. This contributes to the greater exploratory nature of a discussion which still continues to unfold in scientific, psychological and sociological circles today. The article by Sutton et al. asserts that the cognitive perspective on memory seeks to distill memory as an information processing approach with long-term emotional and behavioral ramifications.

Here, Sutton et al. point to the inherency of certain cognitive processes as one gathers or invokes memories. The text by Callard & Papoulias may serve as something of a counterpoint, dispelling with history's emphasis on the intellectualizing of cognitive experience. For Callard & Papoulias, there is a particular demand for memory studies to place more emphasis on the physical and bodily conditions of an experience. These, the study shows, create lasting motor memory responses that become part of the body's reflexology. Accordingly, Callard & Papoulias find, there is an 'affect' which occurs with each unique or repeated experience and that this affect registers with the brain in a way that is natural and unconscious. As the article finds, "affect refers to an amorphous, diffuse, and bodily 'experience' of stimulation impinging upon and altering the body's physiology." (Callard & Papoulias, p. 247)