Cognitive Foundations is an open-source, collaborative textbook edited by Dr. Celeste Pilegard. Last fall, she brought me onto her team as a subject matter expert in order to revamp “Chapter 6: Memory in Context” in preparation for the release of the second edition of the textbook. I did a lot of revising of the current material (nearly all of it overlapped with the material I taught in my PSYC 144 Memory & Amnesia course) and did a good amount of original writing as well.

Though this textbook chapter does not count as a peer-reviewed publication, working on this project is in line with my desire to contribute to accessible learning practices. The Cognitive Foundations textbook is free to use, and explains psychological concepts using language that is compatible with learners who have no prior psychology experience. Dr. Pilegard uses the book as the course textbook for her 10-week, lower-division undergraduate introduction to cognitive psychology. I am proud to contribute my expertise to a chapter of her textbook, and even happier that the contribution will be of immediate use to the undergraduates currently enrolled in her class.

I strongly believe that mentorship and instruction should go hand-in-hand with research. It is important to extend my hand to others to help them on their academic journey in the same way that others extended their hands to me. If we don’t make learning accessible to others and foster curiosity within the generations after us, who will carry the torch after us? If investing in the future comes in the form of donating a little time and expertise, I am happy to do so.

The second edition of the Cognitive Foundations textbook is currently online and able to be viewed in its soft-launch form, but the finalized version of the textbook (complete with learning outcomes, a glossary, etc.) will not be available until Summer 2024.

If you’d like to cite the “Memory in Context” chapter of Cognitive Foundations in APA, the citation is: 

Yilmaz, A.S., Laney, C., Loftus, E.F., Spielman, R.M., Stangor, C., & Walinga, J. (2023). Memory in context. In C. Pilegard (Ed.), Cognitive Foundations (2nd ed.). https://pilegard.github.io/cogfoundations/ 

I hope people find the chapter helpful.

-A.Y.