Melissa Lancaster Erin Dawson Mark Kimble Ashley Hookway

Cognitive Concepts  This movie highlights many different aspects of memory  Episodic, autobiographical, emotional, etc.  We’re focusing on two of them  Cognitive processes are active  Memory and Emotion relationship

Active Processes  Our cognitive processes are active  Major theme of cognition!  Memory is a lively process requiring active synthesis and transformation of information  It is not just a passive storage system

Article Summary: Active Processes  We actively construct our memories as they are retrieved  Disputes the computer or video tape idea  We integrate our experiences, knowledge and schemas into our long-term memory  As we reconstruct our memories, we combine information we’ve stored

Memory and Emotion  Theme of autobiographical memory: reconstruction  Memory is not a unitary brain function  Conscience recollection of the past  Amygdala and emotional memory  Feelings as a stimulus

Article Summary: Emotions & Memory Authors: LaBar & Cabeza  Analysis of several studies  Purpose: investigate the connection between emotion and episodic memory  Defined two dimensions of emotion:  Arousal = varies from calm to excitement  Valence = varies from unpleasant to pleasant

Emotional Memory  Studies included healthy adults & adults w/brain damage to the amygdala.  Results:  damage = no feeling or emotional connection  healthy = able to reconstruct emotions related to particular memories.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind  Joel and Clementine  After two years, had a bad breakup  Clementine goes to Lacuna, Inc. and gets her memory of Joel erased

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind  Joel undergoes memory erasure, too  During the procedure, he decides he does not want to continue

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind  Joel attempts to wake-up, hold onto his memories, & hide Clementine in memories where she does not belong in order to keep her memory in tact

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind  Joel’s attempts are unsuccessful  Joel and Clementine run into each other in Montauk, and are instantly attracted to each other…the relationship begins again

Eternal Sunshine & Active Processes  Scenes from the movie that illustrate Memory’s Active Process  Barnes & Noble bookstore memory  First attempt at ‘hiding’ Clementine (childhood)  Walking in the woods, attempts to ‘wake-up’

Eternal Sunshine & Emotional Memory  Scenes from the movie that illustrate the Emotional aspect of Memory  When Joel is a little boy, under the table  When Clementine has a ‘break-down’ and does not know why