Autobiographical Memory

• Episodic memories of events we experienced
• Semantic memories of facts about ourselves

AM Lasts a lifetime.

Functions of Autobiographical Memory

• Directive: Memories guide current actions (reanalyze what went wrong)

• Social: Increase social bonds for people with shared experiences.

  • People enjoyed true autobiographical stories of romantic encounters more than fiction.

    (Baron & Bluck 2008)

• Self-representation: Internal reflections aid identity cohesion

  • More self-reflection + less memory sharing = depression more likely.

    Negative memories associated with more arousal in people with higher rates of depression.

    (Grace, Dewhurst, Anderson 2016)

Tiers of Autobiographical Memory

Ranked from general to specific.

• Lifetime Period: Memories of major portions of our lives with specific start and end time.
• General Events: Specific sequence of events related to a basic theme.
• Event-Specific Knowledge: Detailed and Episodic: particular times, places, actions.
• HSAM - Highly Superior AM: Event-specific as if viewing through a video recording.

Duration of Autobiographical Memory

Emotional or important events tend to be remembered more than mundane events.

• Childhood / Infantile Amnesia: Adults have few episodic memories from childhood
• Neurogenesis produce lots of neurons in childhood, overwriting the memory
• Reminiscence Bump: Increased episodic memories from 15-25 yo

Flashbulb Memories