Understanding Autobiographical Memory: Theories and Approaches

by Edited by Dorthe Berntsen , David C. Rubin

• ISBN13: 9780521189330
• ISBN10: 0521189330
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-11-12
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

The field of autobiographical memory has made dramatic advances since the first collection of papers in the area was published in 1985. Now, over twenty-five years on, this book reviews and integrates the many theories, perspectives and approaches that have evolved over the last decades. A truly eminent collection of editors and contributors appraise the basic neural systems of autobiographical memory; its underlying cognitive structures and retrieval processes; how it develops in infancy and childhood, and then breaks down in aging; its social and cultural aspects; and its relation to personality and the self. Autobiographical memory has demonstrated a strong ability to establish clear empirical generalizations and shown its practical relevance by deepening our understanding of several clinical disorders - including the induction of false memories in the legal system. It has also become an important topic for brain studies and helped to enlarge our general understanding of the brain.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Approaches to the Study of Autobiographical Memory:

The basic system model of autobiographical memory

Identity, emotion, and the social matrix of autobiographical memory: a psychoanalytic narrative view

On the nature of autobiographical memory Martin

Reflections on autobiographical memory

Neural Studies of Autobiographical Memory:

The contribution of research on autobiographical memory to past and present theories of memory consolidation

Functional neuroimaging of autobiographical memory

Social and Cultural Aspects of Autobiographical Memory:

Of sins and virtues: memory and collective identity

Historically defined autobiographical periods: their origins and implications

Directive functions of autobiographical memory: theory and method

Development of Autobiographical Memory from Infancy to Old Age:

The life I once remembered: the waxing and waning of early memories

Subjective perspective and personal timeline in the development of autobiographical memory

Theory and research in autobiographical memory: a lifespan developmental perspective Joseph

Evolution and Basic Processes of Autobiographical Memory:

Evolutionary origins of autobiographical memory: a retrieval hypothesis

Spontaneous recollections: involuntary autobiographical memories are a basic mode of remembering

Autobiographical memory and future thinking

Discussion:

Understanding autobiographical memory: an ecological theory

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