Synonyms
Memory; Personal memory; Recollective memory
Definition
Autobiographical memory (AM) is the memory of events or information involving the self. Researchers generally conceptualize AM as episodic, as opposed to semantic. AMs are temporally defined (e.g., by the date of the remembered event) and involve a sense of “recollection or reliving” of the original event (Greenberg and Rubin 2003).
Historical Background
Levin et al. (1982) are sometimes credited with originating the term AM. However, AM research dates back to Francis Galton’s 1879 study of his own recall of events in his personal past. Galton sampled his own episodic memories by finding associations between words and events from his past and dating those events. In 1974, Crovitz and Schiffman modified Galton’s technique to create what became a widely used method for studying AM (see Rubin 1999). Their revised technique involved asking participants to think of memories associated with words presented to them. In 1983,...
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References and Readings
Bluck, S. (Ed.). (2003). Autobiographical memory: Exploring its functions in everyday life. [Special issue]. Memory, 11(2), 113–229.
Dalgleish, T., & Brewin, C. R. (Eds.). (2007). Autobiographical memory and emotional disorder. [Special issue]. Memory, 15(3).
Daselaar, S. M., Rice, H. J., Greenberg, D. L., Cabeza, R., LaBar, K. S., & Rubin, D. C. (2008). The spatiotemporal dynamics of autobiographical memory: Neural correlates of recall, emotional intensity, and reliving. Cerebral Cortex, 18, 217–229.
Greenberg, D. L., & Rubin, D. C. (2003). The neuropsychology of autobiographical memory. [Special issue]. Cortex, 39, 687–728.
Hermans, D., Raes, F., Philippot, P., & Kremers, I. (Eds.). (2006). Autobiographical memory specificity and psychopathology. New York: Psychology Press.
Irish, M., Landin-Romero, R., Mothakunnel, A., Ramanan, S., Hsieh, S., Hodges, J., & Piquet, O. (2017). Evolution of autobiographical memory impairments in Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia-A longitudinal neuroimaging study. Neuropsychologia.
Levin, H. S., Benton, A. L., & Grossman, R. G. (1982). Neurobehavioral consequences of closed head injury. New York: Oxford University Press.
Rubin, D. C. (Ed.). (1999). Remembering our past: Studies in autobiographical memory. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Sutin, A. R., & Robins, R. W. (2007). Phenomenology of autobiographical memories: The memory experiences questionnaire. Memory, 15(4), 390–411.
Wenzel, A., & Rubin, D. C. (Eds.). (2005). Cognitive methods and their application to clinical research. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
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Tyson, K. (2018). Autobiographical Memory. In: Kreutzer, J.S., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_1108
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_1108
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