Yesterday?s Objects and Tomorrow?s Objects: Remembering the Past and Envisioning

Chowder Hour Talk 11:30-12:30pm Thursday, November 13th Denison Museum, Burke Hall Frank Hassebrock Department of Psychology,Faculty Fellow for Learning and Teaching, Denison University What are the keepsakes that you have carried with you over the years? A childhood teddy bear? A first-place medal from a track meet in high school? A picture of you and your brother playing in the ocean as kids? Your grandfather?s favorite deck of playing cards? These objects are examples of keepsakes that adults report using as cues for remembering rich, vivid, and emotional memories of experiences, people, and places. Do men and women, as well as younger and older adults, keep different types of objects, and thus recall different kinds of memories of the past? In this talk, I will present some of my research which has investigated how our memories associated with keepsakes, souvenirs, and mementos shape our identity and self-concept, social interactions with others, and emotional responses. In addition, I will report on the types of keepsakes that people predict they will obtain and keep in the future as they age. Are these potential keepsakes a window for envisioning our future memories as well as our future selves? Lunch is provided, RSVP required. RSVP to Cookie Sunkle Asst to Dir,The Gilpatrick Ctr sunkle@denison.edu (740)587-6573