Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Preface
- 1 Introduction to the unbidden past
- 2 Theoretical backgrounds
- 3 Ways to study the unbidden past
- 4 How special are involuntary autobiographical memories?
- 5 How do they come to mind?
- 6 Differences between involuntary and voluntary autobiographical memories
- 7 Involuntary memories of traumatic events
- 8 Future and past
- References
- Index
6 - Differences between involuntary and voluntary autobiographical memories
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 June 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Preface
- 1 Introduction to the unbidden past
- 2 Theoretical backgrounds
- 3 Ways to study the unbidden past
- 4 How special are involuntary autobiographical memories?
- 5 How do they come to mind?
- 6 Differences between involuntary and voluntary autobiographical memories
- 7 Involuntary memories of traumatic events
- 8 Future and past
- References
- Index
Summary
And so it is with our past. It is a labour in vain to attempt to recapture it: all the efforts of our intellect must prove futile. The past is hidden somewhere outside the realm, beyond the reach of the intellect, in some material object (in the sensation that material object will give us) which we do not expect.
(Proust, 1928, p. 61)Despite many similarities (see Chapter 4), some important differences can be found between involuntary and voluntary autobiographical memories. These differences are best explained as consequences of the different ways in which the two kinds of memories are retrieved. As pointed out by Tulving more than thirty years ago: “the interaction between trace information and retrieval information [is the] sine qua non of all memory phenomena” (Tulving, 1974, p. 75). In other words, the content of both involuntary and voluntary autobiographical memories is formed by an interaction between the retrieval process and stored autobiographical information. Because of the dissimilar retrieval mechanisms characterizing the two kinds of memories, the content of involuntary and voluntary recollections tends to differ on some dimensions.
The most direct evidence for this claim comes from a recent diary study examining representations of possible personal events in the future that come to mind involuntarily – that is, with no preceding retrieval attempt (Berntsen and Jacobsen, in press). Such involuntary future representations (or flash forwards) were compared to representations of future events recalled voluntarily in response to cue words.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Involuntary Autobiographical MemoriesAn Introduction to the Unbidden Past, pp. 111 - 142Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009