After5Dallas - The Mind Game: How Emotion & Motivation Rewrite Our Memory

A Conversation on Memory, Emotion, and the Stories We Tell Ourselves

Join a cognitive psychologist and memory researcher for The Psychology of Memory: How Context Reshapes the Past, an engaging exploration of why remembering is far messier and more fascinating than hitting "replay" on the past. Together, we'll uncover how memory retrieval is an active, cyclical process, why emotion, motivation, and our current context reshape what we recall, and why some memories are far more vulnerable to distortion than others. From vivid childhood moments to courtroom testimony, you'll gain a deeper understanding of just how unreliable - and reconstructable - our memories really are.

What We'll Cover:

• Memory as reconstruction - Learn why remembering isn't a passive replay, but an active process that rebuilds the past each time we recall it.
• Why emotion and context distort memory - Explore how mood, motivation, and present circumstances quietly reshape what we think we remember.
• Memory in the real world - Discover what these vulnerabilities mean for the justice system and why eyewitness testimony is far shakier than we assume.

Whether you're fascinated by psychology, curious about your own spotty recall, or simply wondering why your memory of an old argument never quite matches anyone else's, you'll leave with a deeper appreciation for how the mind rebuilds the past.

Don't miss this chance to connect with your After5Society.

About The Speaker:

Holly Bowen is an associate professor in the psychology department at SMU. She earned her Ph.D. at Toronto Metropolitan University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Boston College in Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. Her research centers on how emotion and motivation influence memory across the adult lifespan into older age, studied through behavioral methods, physiology, and neuroimaging.

Good to know before you come:

• Exact bar location will be disclosed in your confirmation email
• Arrive early to grab a drink and get settled
• The speaker portion lasts 1 hour, with optional time to stay and socialize afterward
• This is a participatory event
• Seating is limited to keep the experience intimate