Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Approaches to the study of autobiographical memory
- Part II Neural studies of autobiographical memory
- Part III Social and cultural aspects of autobiographical memory
- Part IV Development of autobiographical memory from infancy to old age
- Part V Evolution and basic processes of autobiographical memory
- Part VI Discussion
- Index
- References
1 - Introduction
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 November 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Approaches to the study of autobiographical memory
- Part II Neural studies of autobiographical memory
- Part III Social and cultural aspects of autobiographical memory
- Part IV Development of autobiographical memory from infancy to old age
- Part V Evolution and basic processes of autobiographical memory
- Part VI Discussion
- Index
- References
Summary
The ability to remember personal events is at the heart of what defines an individual as a person with obligations, roles, and commitments in a given society. It enables us to draw lessons from our past and plan our personal future. It helps us to orientate and participate in complex social communities. Autobiographical memory is therefore crucial for a sense of identity, continuity, and direction in life.
In spite of this significance, concerted and systematic psychological research on autobiographical memory only began to emerge in the 1980s, roughly a hundred years after the publication of the first book launching experimental research on memory (Ebbinghaus, 1885/1964). Until then, experimental memory research had been focused on testing learning and memory for verbal material.
Research on autobiographical memory broke away from the existing field of memory research by introducing new methodological, theoretical, and philosophical challenges (e.g., Brewer, 1986; Crovitz and Schiffman, 1974; Neisser, 1982). For that reason, autobiographical memory researchers often had difficulty in getting their work published in existing psychology journals. Instead, edited books became an importantmedium for scientific exchange during the first decade.
The first edited book on autobiographical memory was published in the middle of the 1980s (Rubin, 1986). At this time, the autobiographical memory field was small and exotic.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Understanding Autobiographical MemoryTheories and Approaches, pp. 1 - 8Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2012
References
- 3
- Cited by