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Back to Understanding Memory: Explaining the Psychology of Memory through Movies

Learner Reviews & Feedback for Understanding Memory: Explaining the Psychology of Memory through Movies by Wesleyan University

4.7
stars
2,190 ratings

About the Course

Welcome to Understanding Memory. Someone once said that memory is fascinating because sometimes we forget what we want to remember, sometimes we remember what we want to forget, and sometimes we remember events that never happened or never happened the way we remember them. I want to show you how memory works, why it sometimes fails, and what we can do to enhance it. Based on my recent book – Memory and Movies: What Films Can Teach Us About Memory (MIT Press, 2015) – I will provide an introduction to the scientific study of human memory by focusing on a select group of topics that hold widespread appeal. To facilitate your understanding, I will use clips from numerous films to illustrate different aspects of memory – describing what has been learned about memory in a nontechnical way for people with no prior background in psychology. Many of us love watching movies because they offer an unparalleled opportunity for entertainment, even if entertaining films are not always scientifically accurate. Still, I believe that we can learn a lot about memory from popular films, if we watch them with an educated eye. Welcome once more. I am looking forward to showing you what movies can teach us about memory. John Seamon Professor of Psychology Emeritus Wesleyan University...

Top reviews

RD

Jul 31, 2020

The material is presented in an easy to remember and understand format. Information is repeated several times during a lecture. The videos chosen enhanced understanding and engagement in the lectures.

VS

Sep 8, 2016

Very good course. It complete its purpose and manage to teach a lot of things in a simple and fast way, wich is the objetive of Coursera. Also, the forum is full of discussions, wich is interesting.

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526 - 550 of 642 Reviews for Understanding Memory: Explaining the Psychology of Memory through Movies

By Deleted A

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Feb 17, 2016

wonderful

By ayllin m u t

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Sep 18, 2020

good job

By Aurora G V

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Aug 15, 2017

Me gustó

By Roberto R

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Aug 7, 2016

excelent

By Aleksey D

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Jun 15, 2016

Awesome!

By Ashrak A A S 1

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Feb 25, 2021

perfect

By Aida B S H

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Aug 15, 2019

Lovely!

By Prasanna P

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Sep 10, 2018

Great!

By Mónica A G G

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Feb 3, 2018

Great!

By Medhat A

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Jan 9, 2017

thanks

By Silvia H

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Feb 9, 2021

Great

By Aare H 1

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Jun 1, 2020

nice

By Monica J

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May 17, 2020

Nice

By Ko S

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Nov 11, 2018

GREA

By Wilma J

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Jun 18, 2017

P

By Yoo M

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Feb 15, 2017

T

By Danielle R

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Mar 14, 2017

I really enjoyed the course and in particular, the professor teaching it. I would have liked to spend more time in assimilating the information and to have some in video quizzes to help clarify and solidify the course content. One gets out of it what they put into it. For those who do not have a lot of time to spend on peer reviewed submissions, this was an excellent option. I am going to review all of the lectures again because I think it is important to retain new information and my 'working' memory is currently impaired. That said, I did not engage in the discussions and will have to do so after the fact. I absolutely loved the use of movies as a vehicle to learn about the course content and to better understand the differences in mild cognitive deficits versus the various stages of dementia. Overall, I really enjoyed the course and would gladly build on what I have taken away from it

By AISHWARYA A

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Oct 27, 2019

Dear Prof. Seamon,

This course was a very concise and basic guide to understanding memory and I believe it is a good start for anyone, even without a scientific or biological background knowledge. I had a good learning experience and I also came across many interesting movies through this. I also realized how movies shape the common man's understanding of memory and the associated problems and sometimes it can be misleading. However, this was a good experience and i would like to thank you for the course.

Thank you, hope to learn more from you in future courses.

Best regards,

Aishwarya Aravamudhan

By Leslie S

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Apr 21, 2021

Very good and informational course. I learned more about memory than I knew and have a different appreciation for the movies chosen to represent various topics within the course.

It would be nice if we could discuss various aspects of the course with the instructor and/or others especially in relation to experiences we have in our daily lives.

Also would be nice if the correct answers were available. I found some answers didn't work even though I thought I was taking them from course notes.

thank you for a very good course and well organized instructor

By Kate

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Aug 7, 2016

I enjoyed Professor Seamon's lectures and I also enjoyed his book. While you do not need to purchase the book, it is well written and really helpful and interesting. Professor Seamon has an endearing and personal style which makes the material come to life. The movie selection was excellent and helped reinforce many of the technical definitions about memory. I feel the quizzes could have been a little more challenging. Overall a very enjoyable experience.

By Zhenni L

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May 19, 2019

The course did a great job introducing various aspects of memory via movies and it was extremely fun to learn. The only reason that I didn't give a rate of 5 stars is the course was rather "easier" than I expected. It is suitable for people who want to get to know how memory works but don't want to get lost in professional terms of psychology or neural science. Overall, I recommend it!

By Zehra E

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Mar 28, 2021

This course teached me how to understand mind. How it works and save moments, experiences sometimes how it forget. Episodic memory results, semantic memory experiences showed how we got next and have unforgettable moments. Now, watchin movies got another aim. Involve yourself through try to understand and get some details. This course showed up our brain is lifelong learner.

By subhash b k

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Jan 14, 2018

I liked the way instructor speaks and explains. If you want to learn about the psychology of memory its great. But you if want to learn how to apply that knowledge to benefit yourself (like me) the course does not dwell into that much. It is enjoyable, but most of the course content goes into semantic memory except for the movie clippings which go into the episodic memory!

By Vee

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Apr 2, 2017

Movies were very interesting and planning to watch all of them with new perspective.

Wish the summaries and important texts in the lecture was available as slides helping for quick review and recall.

The same constant tone of voice made it difficult to keep awake and focus on the content

Wished for more reading material each week rather than same book link.

By Jennie J

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Dec 28, 2019

Very interesting and important learning. The teacher is very pleasant and easy to follow. I learned a lot. The quizzes were a bit challenging due to so many new terms (good for my brain). However I do believe that some dimensia can be reversed as a Holistic Practitioner and MDs haven't caught up to that.