The Autobiographical Self in Time and Culture

Qi Wang holds a BSc in Psychology from Peking University, China, and a PhD in Psychology from Harvard University. She is currently Professor and Director of Social Cognition Development Laboratory at Cornell University. Wang has received many honors and awards and is regarded as the preeminent psychologist in the study of memory and culture. Her work exemplifies a creative merger of rigorous empiricism, compelling theoretical insights, and real life significance for education and parenting.

• Table of Contents ; Preface ; Introduction ; Chapter 1: Personal stories, family stories ; Chapter 2: Autobiography in time ; Chapter 3: The stories we keep ; Chapter 4: When does our autobiographical self begin? ; Chapter 5: What are we made of? Stories told and untold ; Chapter 6: The autobiographical self in prospective

"What a fascinating book! Filled with wonderful stories and historical examples as well as highly accessible reports of the latest research, The Autobiographical Self in Time and Culture reveals and explains the through-going cultural nature of our memories and ourselves. A useful and engaging read for psychologists in all areas, but also for teachers, managers and parents who are raising their children in a multicultural world. Wang's analysis isso successful that readers will be forever unable to describe an event or recount a memory without considering why and how their story takes the form it does." -- Hazel Rose Markus, co-author of Clash! Eight Cultural Conflicts that Make Us Who We Are"In The Autobiographical Self in Time and Culture, Qi Wang educates readers about how cognitive-developmental psychologists and neuroscience scholars are now shining their bright lights onto memory's stories. The author's weaving of a prose text with the threads of a laboratory science paradigm and so many cross-cultural stories makes for a thought-provoking and thoroughly enjoyable liberal arts tale." --Thomas V. McGovern, PsycCRITIQUES"Wang's psychological focus in understanding concepts of self should not be considered a limitation of this fne book. The volume is equally valuable as a history of the autobiographical art form and as a cultural comparison of differing versions of the self based on social practice. For those who are curious about childhood recollections and, more important, why one recalls certain events, this book is a must read. This book will serve those interested in the humanities, including American and Chinese culture, comparative culture, and autobiography. Highly recommended." --S. Batcos, CHOICE"This is the book I ached to read as soon as I closed Chameleon Readers - but I had to wait 17 years. It was well worth the wait: Wang shines a light into the very heart of East-West narrative difference, rooting it in autobiography. My copy may be more marked up than any other book I've ever owned." -- Gish Jen, The Week