Forgetting is the most obvious feature of human memory, whether this is everyday forgetfulness, like leaving your keys at home, or more serious medical conditions, such as amnesia. Forgetting: Explaining Memory Failure uses the most up-to-date evidence available to examine the psychological processes behind these extremes and everything in between. It explores why we have so little recollection of our childhood lives, as well as why we may create false memories of events that never happened. 

In this book, Michael Eysenck & David Groome use cutting-edge research to examine one of the central issues in the study of memory: forgetting. It challenges assumptions about the processing of memory, offering insights into key debates, as well as providing readers with the critical skills to develop their own conclusions on the topic. With chapters from leading figures, this book also emphasises the positive aspects of forgetting, an important and often overlooked area in the field.

We are all subject to forgetting—sometimes quite dramatic forgetting.  In this very readable book, Eysenck, Groome, and a team of experts in the science of memory describe many types and sources of forgetting.  Written in a clear and engaging manner, these chapters will be of interest to anyone who has ever wondered how their memory works, and why it fails.

Colin M MacLeod

Michael W. Eysenck is Emeritus Professor at the University of Roehampton and Emeritus Professor and Honorary Fellow at Royal Holloway University of London. He has published 62 books and approximately 170 articles and book chapters. He has written numerous textbooks on cognitive psychology and his main research area is concerned with the relationship between anxiety and cognition. David Groome was Senior Academic and Head of the Psychology Department at the University of Westminster, London. He retired in 2011, but he continues to write and he has authored or co-authored twelve psychology books. His research interests mainly involve cognition and memory, especially memory suppression and the effects of mood disorders on cognition. In 2009 he was awarded the BPS Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Psychology. His hobbies include tennis, travel, dogs, and music. In his spare time he is a keen guitarist, and is still waiting for his big break as a rock star.