A new documentary probes the phenomenon of retrograde amnesia. It is the story of Douglas Bruce, who experiences profound loss of existing memories. He “wakes up” on a subway one morning, realizing that he has no knowledge of who he is, where he is going, or how he got there. The movie covers 18 months of his “new” life. This quote is from the movie’s website, which includes some quotes from Douglas:
Unknown White Male:
Who am I? I’m still trying to figure that out everyday. Dr. Daniel Schacter {an expert on memory} suggests that personal knowledge about the past forms a set of memories that mold the core of personal identity. Having less than two years of episodic memories I think I am probably changing everyday as I experience different aspects of life. It’s difficult to have a sense of self as i think it depends inherently on remembering one’s past. I have asked people what I was like before the accident, to try and see if the person I might have been feels like the person I am now, but people’s subjective remembering of me, is so diverse that if anything it makes it more confusing.
The movie’s site also has an interview with Daniel Schacter, a memory researcher who is cited in the text for my General Psychology class:
Unknown White Male:
I think that the sum total of our identities is all dependent on memory but you can break that down into different kinds of memory. For example, you might lose your episodic memory but retain your semantic memory. And if that happens, you will retain some aspects of your identity but not all.
If you live here in the hinterlands of South Carolina, don’t hold your breath waiting for it to play here. It’s not scheduled to play nationally until March, and even then in a few cities. The theaters around here prefer movies with many more explosions in them. Maybe it’ll come to Atlanta, or maybe we’ll have to wait for DVD.
Technorati Tags: abnormal psychology, cognition, movies, psychology
