Chapter 1: Introduction

In everyday language, memory and learning seem to be closely related, as two sides of the same coin. Learning presupposes that something is acquired and stays in memory, and memory is where we keep what we have learned; it is by means of our memory that we recall past events. This manner of speaking rests on a number of metaphors where memory is understood as a container or location for storing information and experiences, and learning is the mechanism through which inputs are created (cf. below). When people learn, it is as if sensations and experiences pass some kind of barrier where features of the world are converted to information stored in a person’s memory (Rogoff, 1990). What is material, or at least “out there,” is converted into a “representation” or, in other traditions, an “engram” (Lashley, 1960), where memory traces are stored in our brains in response to the external stimulation.