Memory is Dynamic & Creative | Memory Informs Self | Memory Improvement is Possible 

Whenever I find myself in conversation with folks and what I study -- Memory-- comes up, the conversation always turns to this: "Can you help me with my memory? It's awful! I give the same response each time: Our memories are not actually awful -- they are great! They work just as designed. But our culture constantly puts us into positions that are unnatural, and that stress our systems. Our memories were not designed to be perfect recorders of experience, taking "minutes" of our lives like digital devices. Instead, our memories were designed to help us anticipate and plan, connect with others, and give us a sense of belonging to our communities in the form of a self-concept and identity. 

In an upper-division undergraduate Cognitive Psychology course students studied this perspective and much more. They then took their newfound realizations and created something useful, in the way of guides to help others understand their memories, and to make them work for, rather than against, themselves. 

In each section below you will find thoughtfully created and creatively presented guides. If you find a guide that meets your needs, we hope you will try it the recommendations students share! Thanks for visiting our site, and "happy memory-making!" to you. 

-- Prf. Erica Kleinknecht 

Spring, 2026

This site is an example of an outcome from an Authentic Learning Project Based Course; in this case, the project was linked to an upper-division undergraduate Psychology course title "Memory and Mind." If you have any questions about the content presented and/or the recommendations made on this site, please direct them to --

Professor Erica Kleinknecht, Ph.D. | eko @ pacific u dot edu | 

Want to see more examples of authentic learning in undergraduate psychology courses? Click here.