Sins of Memory & Sexual Dimorphism

Why do some species have more sex differences than others? This week on Psychology Today, I published an article titled Not All Sex Differences Are Created Equal. In it, I briefly overview sexual dimorphism - sex differences in size and other physical characteristics - in humans and other animals.

This was originally going to be an article on oxytocin, the love hormone. I couldn’t explain that without explaining the evolution of pairbonding. I couldn’t explain that without explaining sexual selection and sexual dimorphism, which brought us here. More on oxytocin and pairbonding in the near future.

This week on The Nature & Nurture Podcast, I interviewed Dr. Daniel Schacter, a legend in the cognitive neuroscience of memory research. Find the podcast on YouTube & Spotify.

We talk about the history of memory research over the last 100+ years, beginning with simple behavioral tasks and up to modern neuroimaging. Dr. Schacter overviews different dimensions of memory scientists have identified, including episodic vs. semantic, implicit vs. explicit, and the processes of encoding, consolidation, retrieval, and reconsolidation. We then discuss his book The Seven Sins of Memory. Lastly, Dr. Schacter describes some of his more recent research on the relationship between episodic memory and imagination and creativity.