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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
2,128 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.

KK

Jun 2, 2020

one of the best course I did on Coursera. I really love learning memory and psychology at the same time. the examples given are really just awesome. One useful course during this COVID-19 pandemic.

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601 - 625 of 626 Reviews for Understanding Memory: Explaining the Psychology of Memory through Movies

By Chan J T

May 28, 2017

Great Course!

By Nanditha G

Dec 28, 2021

it was nice

By Djana R

Jun 1, 2018

Good course

By merit s

Oct 10, 2016

Interesting

By Angie T S

Jun 29, 2017

Gracias

By Suhana F

Sep 18, 2022

E

By 김명자

Jan 20, 2018

I

By Safwa A

Oct 3, 2017

i

By Liz A

Oct 10, 2020

The course is good - even excellent but it's difficult to compare it with other courses I've been on that are substantial, detailed and provide a way into the . It's nice and basic. Only one book is used as reference material (which you'd have to buy, and it's written by the lecturer himself), no links to research papers, self tests, or anything at all outside the course , no suggested reading lists. All the testing is done through basic quizzes - (but they're good!) no essays, self-reflection assignments, no check your knowledge embedded in the videos. I found it very interesting. Technically - videos are in nice chunk-lengths, (short and focussed) but the sound is a bit faulty: some hiss, and low volume-level , - which is more obvious as the lecturer is softly spoken. He is easy to listen to however, though. Occasionally audio and video are not together. The music used to start each video sounds like an off the shelf jingle.

By Helen F

May 5, 2016

I appreciate the effort that went into making this course as well as obtaining the film clips. Having said that, if you want to go deeper into the psychology of memory this course is probably not for you. As I progressed through the weeks, I found myself becoming less and less interested since I already know the basics of memory and psychology. I felt I wasn't learning anything new but the clips of films allowed me to see the films in a new light. Maybe if I had bought the book that goes along with the course, i would have gained more insight but as a standalone course, it rates just three stars.

By David D

Sep 26, 2016

I liked this course for the wide range of movie excerpts which underscored a memory malfunction. The scenes were often emotional, quite surprising such a short moment could be so charged.

However the main emphasis of this memory module was to explore malfunctioning memory, to the side of pathology. This was done professionally without a doubt. However this was not what I personally was looking for although one learns about dementia, alzheimer, etc, which is interesting as they will affect most of us in someway or another.

By Jorge R

Jul 29, 2021

Pros: The concept and the structure of the course are great. I feel psychology+cinema is a perfect combination. Plus Dr. John Seamon is a very agreeable and knowledgeable psychologist. You will want to meet him from the very first lecture. /// Cons: The course is too easy/superficial. It does not contain, in my opinion, challenging information or content that can be applied in our profession. Because of that, I truly enjoyed the course as a leisure activity but in any case would I pay 40$ for a diploma.

By Paripsa P

Apr 26, 2020

While some of the material was insightful in the sense that it helped explain important concepts of memory through movies, I felt like certain movies as case studies could have easily been skipped; movies like 50 First Dates did not really teach us anything significant about memory other than the fact that it was an incorrect depiction of memory loss. Cutting down on some such lectures would have made the course more concise and enjoyable.

By Mary K S

Aug 14, 2020

Frustrating not to be able to go back and see what incorrect answer was. Some questions not very substantive. Not doing this for the grade, just to learn.

Otherwise, fine.

By T

Aug 5, 2017

I love this course. It make me understand about amnesia and process. Include of a lot of movie that very interesting for watch it. I'm enjoy. Thanks professor.

By Hugo V

Jan 23, 2017

The professor has a tone of voice that is a little monotonous, but it was interesting to learn about memory with movies

By Lisa M

Dec 4, 2017

It was an interesting class but the sound was bad it was kinda hard to hear without headphones

By reyhane k

Oct 13, 2022

not very compelete

By Miriam R

Dec 1, 2016

Not in-depth at all, mostly summarizes movie plots. If you're looking for a very light overview of some introductory psychological principles, this course is for you, otherwise, don't waste your time.

By Markus L

Aug 3, 2019

Though it sounded interesting as first, I found the movies an unneccessary distractions and would have liked to get a version of this course without them.

By Joyce B

Nov 20, 2017

I didn't think the Movies enhanced the subject.

Learned a little, but far too little to justify the time spent.

By Mike P

Feb 8, 2019

Does not show grade for tests taken.

By Deborah R

Jul 14, 2016

G

By Claire B

Mar 21, 2018

I completed 2 weeks & was told week 3 would show up when available. It says I have completed 5 week course. No discussion forum, no Q&A, just continual selling of paid version and other courses with several course bundle. Coursera used to be excellent. Is this your new business model? I tried your chat and FB page, and don't expect help or a reply. I won't try any more classes and waste my time and become frustrated. You could provide excerpts to read. Who is going to purchase a text - not a book, to read a couple chapters?

By Eric S

Feb 15, 2016

The professor's voice put me to sleep; he was monotone. Online classes work best when interesting material is married to dynamic speakers.