This book presents the current state of knowledge on autobiographical memory. It begins by defining the topic and reviewing the early research including that by Bartlett, Freud and Galton. It moves on to consider the role of chronology; the relationship between the self and autobiographical memory; and how we retrieve it. It then explores how autobiographical memory develops in children, how it declines in old age, and how it can be impaired in, for instance the clinically depressed. Finally, the author draws together the various aspects of theory outlined, attempts to synthesize these into a summary model, and poses questions for future research.
Table of Contents:
Part 1 Identifying autobiographical memory
types of memories
types of autobiographical memories
are autobiographivcal memories "true"?
what do autobiographical memories represent?
summary - characteristics of autobiographical memories
Part 2 The early theorists
Ribot - a vision in time
Galton
cueing autobiographical memory
Freud - the past as dictator
Bartlett - reconstructing the past
the early experimentalists
the modern agenda
Part 3 The time of your life
sampling memory - Galton's original data
short lives - sampling the memory age distributions of young people
long lives - sampling the memory age distributions of older people
the distribution of memory ages across the life-span, reconsidered
memory age distributions from short, and verifiable, time periods
sampling structured time periods - the school year
dating by landmarks
the process of dating
summary - memory retrieval and memory dating
Part 4 Vivid memories
flashbulb memories
criticisms of the "flashbulb" memory concept
veridicality and the determinants of flashbulb memories
flashbulb memories - a special class of memories?
the role of emotion in vivid memory formation
conclusions - characteristics of flashbulb, and vivid, memories
Part 5 Emotions and the "self"
emotion and autobiographical memory
the self and autobiographical memory
self-knowledge
summary - emotion and personal significance
Part 6 Organization in autobiographical memory
computational models of event knowledge
the structure of autobiographical memory
life themes
theoretical aspects of structure - "the past is another country"
summary - the organization of autobiographical memory
Part 7 Remembering the past - the process of retrieval
the generate-search-verify model
recency, categories and images
single-case studies
events and thoughts
conclusions - retrieval of specific memories
Part 8 The development and decline of autobiographical memory
the development of autobiographical memory - childhood amnesia
Freud and the repression of the past
knowledge structures and the emergence of autobiographical memories
autobiographical memory in old age
the decline of autobiographical memory
the meaning of life
Part 9 The impairment of autobiographical memory
amnesia
impairments of "public" knowledge
impairments of autobiographical memory
methodological note
living with amnesia
autobiographical memory in depression
Part 10 Autobiographical memory and cognition
aspects of autobiographical memory
facts, concepts and memories
learning, problem-solving and explanation
what is an autobiographical memory?
conclusions
