Form Follows Function

From an ecological perspective, understanding the form, the structure, of autobiographical memory requires examining the functions it serves in human life. The chapter begins with a review of the distant and then the more recent history of the functional perspective on autobiographical memory. That done, the bulk of the chapter addresses current controversies that arise when taking a functional approach. These include: (1) defining basic functions versus reasons for, or uses of, remembering, (2) considering whether there is one fundamental function, and, in contrast, (3) identifying possible candidates above and beyond the three broad functions commonly seen in the literature (i.e., self, social, directive). The functional approach to autobiographical memory continues to provide an important alternative, or complement, to mechanistic views of human remembering.

Introduction and Overview

In this chapter, a brief overview of autobiographical memory and the general theme of this volume, autobiographical memory organization, is undertaken. In addition, a summary of each of the chapters is provided. The chapter is intended to acquaint the reader with the themes of the volume.

The Associative Nature of Episodic Memories

This chapter concerns the associative nature of episodic memories, putting forth a thesis on the associative form of episodic memories that contains four main propositions: (1) episodic memories always activate other episodic memories; (2) these activations always follow orderly pattern of associations; (3) whereas more than one type of association can be found among episodic memories, the fundamental form is conceptual, where memories are associated (or activated) by their common content; (4) conceptual forms dominate, they are the fundamental (or default) form, and they are the most enduring form. In addition, this chapter unveils a theoretical view which argues that there are mechanisms that create and maintain conceptual associations.

The Cue-dependency of the “Reminiscence Bumps” in Autobiographical Memory and Memory for Public Events

The reminiscence bump most commonly refers to the disproportionate number of autobiographical memories, in adults aged ≥40 years, dating from youth and early adulthood. Whereas the bump in autobiographical memory has primarily been studied by psychologists, it has been paralleled in the sociology literature in a spike in recall for public events that occurred at a similar period of the lifespan. This chapter reviews findings illustrating that the temporal location of the bump (in autobiographical memory) and the frequency with which it is found (in memory for public events) vary according to the cueing method used to elicit the memories. For instance, in autobiographical memory, the bump is earlier when memories are elicited through cue words than when memories are elicited through requests for important memories. In memory for public events, the bump is more frequently attained when recall is tested through open-ended recall than when it is tested through knowledge tests. It is argued that these findings indicate that retrieval processes play a large role in the bump in each domain, and therefore challenge most existing theoretical accounts, which stress encoding processes. The relevant retrieval processes in each domain are then discussed. Finally, the implications of the reviewed findings, in particular those concerning autobiographical memory, are discussed as they relate to models of the organization of autobiographical memory.

The Role of the Self in the Organization of Memories and Imagined Future Events

This chapter reviews the organizational role of the self in the distributions and accessibility of memories and imagined future events. It covers research on the self-reference effect, self-defining memories, and the reminiscence bump. In this context, the different methods used to explore the relationships between the self, autobiographical memory, and future thinking are reviewed. A comparative view of the findings obtained for the past and the future are also given. The contributions of studies conducted in both healthy controls and clinical populations are discussed. One section is devoted to investigations in people with neurological and neuropsychiatric conditions and their contribution to improving our understanding of the relationships between autobiographical memory and the self.

The Self-Memory System Revisited

The self-memory system model of autobiographical memory has been highly influential in providing a framework in which to locate a wide range of research findings from neuropsychology, psychological illness, behavioral findings, to attachment and personality research. Here the authors update the model and clarify some common misunderstandings. They review the extensive and relatively recent findings from neuroimaging studies that have provided a striking brain basis for the model, update neuropsychological findings, and develop the model to apply to future thinking. Finally, they delineate a small set of fundamental problems suggested by these developments of the model.

The Neural Basis of Autobiographical Memory

Recent advances in neuroimaging techniques have led to significant progress in our understanding of how the personal past is represented in the brain. A key insight has been the degree to which autobiographical memory (AM) is structured according to self-related processes. This chapter addresses the role of the self in organizing AM in three key areas: (1) processing of self-related information, (2) awareness of the self in time (i.e. autonoetic consciousness), and (3) the centrality of egocentric visual perspective. There are exciting areas for future research that capitalize on the benefits of recent advances in fully immersive virtual reality technologies.

Placing Autobiographical Memory in a General Memory Organization

This chapter explains a model of autobiographical memory based on the dimensions of self-reference, the construction of scenes needed to create memories of events, explicit versus implicit memory, emotional intensity, uncertainty, and other processes of memory. The model is an extension of the basic systems model and event memory, which when combined resolve many inconsistencies in the current literature, integrate the behavioral and neural level of analysis more efficiently, and identify new research questions. In doing so, it places autobiographical memory into a well-specified organization with other types of memory and psychological topics and thus into a broader context not attempted in earlier models of autobiographical memory. These topics include episodic memory, memory for fiction and film, other people’s memories, personality, habits, phobias, and déjà vu. The behavioral and neural evidence used to define, support, and evaluate the model locates autobiographical memory in a knowledge-rich, more easily applied memory organization.

Culture in the Organization of Autobiographical Memory

This chapter outlines a cultural dynamic theory as the framework to understand and predict the effects of cultural variables on the organization of autobiographical memory. The theory posits that autobiographical memory takes place in the dynamic transaction between an active individual and his or her changing environment; it is situated in culturally conditioned time and space over a multitude of timescales; and it develops in the process of children acquiring cultural knowledge about the self and the purpose of the past through early socialization. The organization of autobiographical memory is discussed in terms of objective, subjective, and structural components and applies the theoretical model of the cultural dynamic theory to discuss the influence of culture on each of the components. To illustrate the overarching influence of culture on remembering, parallel findings of episodic memory as typically assessed in laboratory settings with non-personal materials (e.g., stories) are further discussed, and vicarious memory for events that happened to other people. Although these three types of memory vary in the degree of personal relevance or self-involvement, it is demonstrated that their organizational components are similarly and inevitably conditioned by cultural variables as the cultural dynamic theory predicts. Whereas this discussion focuses on extant findings involving the comparison between Westerners, especially European-Americans, and East Asians, the cultural dynamic theory should also apply to other cultural groups for the understanding of the dynamic impact of culture on remembering.

Development and Organization of Autobiographical Memory Form and Function

Autobiographical memory defines who we are in relationship to others in the world. In addition to providing critical information to direct our behavior in adaptive ways, autobiographical memory functions to create a coherent and continuous sense of self and relationships over time, and thus autobiographical memory includes multiple temporal horizons. This chapter demonstrates that these different temporal horizons develop at different rates across childhood and are socially scaffolded in their forms through sharing memories with others. Even early in development, children recall both specific episodes and recurring scripted events in coherent, but differentiated ways, suggesting that children may be using them for different functions. Episodic representations are used to define self and regulate emotions, whereas scripted representations are used to direct behavior. By adulthood, autobiographical memory has developed into a complex interplay among episodes, recurring events, and extended events, and preliminary evidence suggests that adults may use different autobiographical forms for different functions. This approach to examining autobiographical memory as it develops along multiple temporal horizons and serves multiple functions indicates the need to expand our theoretical understanding of the organization of autobiographical memory.