Cited by 211Memory Processes and InfluencesMemory and Neural MechanismsSleep and Wakefulness Research

A Bridge Over Troubled Water: Reconsolidation as a Link Between Cognitive and Neuroscientific Memory Research Traditions

Hardt, Oliver, Einarsson, Einar Örn, Nader, Karim·2010·Annual Review of Psychology

Abstract

There are two research traditions on dynamic memory processes. In cognitive psychology, the malleable nature of long-term memory has been extensively documented. Distortions, such as the misinformation effect or hindsight bias, illustrate that memories can be easily changed, often without their owner taking notice. On the other hand, effects like hypermnesia demonstrate that memory might be more reliable than these distortions suggest. In the neuroscience field, similar observations were obtained mostly from animal studies. Research on memory consolidation suggested that memories become progressively resistant to amnesic treatments over time, but the reconsolidation phenomenon showed that this stability can be transiently lifted when these memories are reactivated, i.e., retrieved. Surprisingly, both research traditions have not taken much notice of each others' advances in understanding memory dynamics. We apply concepts developed in neuroscience to phenomena revealed in cognitive psychology to illustrate how these twins separated at birth may be reunited again.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1146/annurev.psych.093008.100455

Cites

186 of 186 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Memory is not an exact reproduction of past experiences but a constructive process subject to errors and distortions.

    “Research in psychology and neuroscience supports the idea that memory is not an exact reproduction of past experiences, but is instead a constructive process subject to a variety of errors and distortions (1–8).”

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Hardt, O., Einarsson, E. Ö., & Nader, K.
Affiliations
McGill University (CA)
Venue
Annual Review of Psychology
Published
2010-01-01
Volume
61
Issue
1
Pages
141-167
ISSN
  • 0066-4308 (ISSN-L)
  • 1545-2085
OpenAlex
W2130108344
Cited by
211
References
183
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 34 · 2012: 21
FWCI
0.99
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Annual Review of Psychology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Sleep and Wakefulness Research
Keywords
memory reconsolidation, memory consolidation, misinformation effect, hindsight bias, hypermnesia, memory retrieval, memory stability, cognitive neuroscience of memory
MeSH terms
Amnesia, Animals, Brain, Humans, Memory, Nerve Net, Neuronal Plasticity, Neurons

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review