Does it matter if we forget things?

Professor Catriona Morrison, Head of the Department of Psychology at the University of Bradford, will speak on the subject on Wednesday 27 February, 6-7.30pm in the Norcroft Centre.

The talk will look at some of the cues we use to investigate memory and what changes in memory can mean.

Catriona said: “Memory slip-ups are a part of everyday life – we use our memory in every second of every day (even when we’re asleep!), so is it surprising that it sometimes goes wrong? Should we be worried about it?

“In this talk I will discuss some of the ways in which memory lets us down and why that might even be adaptive. We’ll also consider how memory emerges and changes across the lifespan, and consider a very interesting analysis of the author Iris Murdoch’s work that suggests there were early clues about her developing dementia.”

Catriona was an author on a paper looking at a person’s earliest memory which was published last year. She has an MA from the University of Glasgow, a doctorate from the University of York, and has worked at the universities of Cardiff, Leeds and Heriot-Watt in Edinburgh. She has a keen interest in student education and public engagement and is a former Chair of the British Psychological Society’s Education Board. Her research interests, aside from memory, include the psychology of language, the psychology of addiction, and, most recently, has been investigating the growing problem of online trolling.

Through public events the University of Bradford seeks to provide a forum for academics, students, experts in their fields and the public to discuss areas of work of the University and their relation to society.