“The perfume of the soul is memory.”
– George Sand
Can you imagine not being able to recall your first love or childhood memories? Remembering your early friendships, the scents you adored, how you looked during your youth, and how you enjoyed life—these are all naturally embedded within what we call autobiographical memory. Now imagine forgetting your closest loved ones. In truth, these are all examples of moments stored in your autobiographical memory.
First, let’s explore what this concept entails, and then we’ll examine how autobiographical memory connects with your personal past.
What is Autobiographical Memory?
Autobiographical memory is a concept related to personal experiences. It consists of memories that form the story of your own life. In short, these experiences serve a kind of organizing function and therefore form the foundation of your biography. This memory system develops as a result of your interaction with the external world, and everything you do is shaped by your understanding of autobiographical memory.
According to José María Ruiz-Vargas, a scholar and researcher at the Autonomous University of Madrid, autobiographical memories are characterized by:
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Self-Connection: These memories help shape and define who you are.
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Narrative Structure: Remembering personal memories often involves retelling them as a story. In this process, experience transforms into narrative during recall (Ruiz-Vargas, 2004, p.10).
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Mental Imagery: Autobiographical memories include visual images, and often also contain other sensory data such as sounds or smells.
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Emotional Component: Emotions make memories more vivid and impactful.
Additionally, autobiographical memory is distributed across time. The construction of a personal past does not occur uniformly. This variation depends on individual memory differences and one’s current life stage.
Autobiographical memory (AM) refers to the coherent and integrated recollection of personally experienced events that contribute to one’s sense of self. It’s not just about remembering events—it’s about weaving the narrative of who we are, ensuring continuity across time, and forming a connection with our personal history. It includes both specific memories of past events and conceptual knowledge related to the self.
Autobiographical memories are a vital component of human experience. They play a crucial role in shaping our sense of identity and also act as guides for our future. As records of past personal experiences, they remind us of lessons learned and help us resolve similar issues in the present or plan for the future.
Psychological Functions of Autobiographical Memory
Research over the past 25 years has shown that the way people recall their personal past—whether through specific or general memories—significantly impacts their psychological functioning. First identified in a study by Williams and Broadbent (1986) on patients with suicidal tendencies, overgeneral autobiographical memory refers to the tendency of some individuals to recall more generic and less specific memories in response to cue words.
Instead of retrieving a specific event that happened at a certain time and place and lasted less than a day (e.g., “my university graduation”), these individuals tend to recall categories or summaries of events (categorical memories, such as “times with my family”) or extended events lasting more than a day (extended memories, such as “my trip to Spain”).
While the functions of autobiographical memory have intrigued memory researchers since Freud’s time, it is only in the last two to three decades that modern psychology has begun to explore them in greater depth. As Neisser (1978) posed, the central question is how people use past experiences to shape their present and future.
From Memory to Identity Formation
In 2003, Susan Bluck’s special issue Autobiographical Memory: Exploring Its Functions in Everyday Life marked a significant turning point in advancing research in this field. Since then, numerous studies have explored how autobiographical memory supports social sharing, identity formation, and future planning. However, it has also been found that certain emotional experiences—especially those involving shame or guilt—are less likely to be shared.
Moreover, neuroscientific studies show that autobiographical memory plays a role not only in remembering the past but also in imagining and planning the future (as shown in studies by Spreng and D’Argembeau). Some individuals with highly detailed and superior memory capacities have even been found to struggle with psychological burdens.
Using our past to understand ourselves and shape our future is one of life’s most powerful tools. Of course, this journey sometimes involves forgetting painful memories and, at other times, making sense of key moments that define our identity.
References
Bluck, S. (2003). Autobiographical memory: Exploring its functions in everyday life.
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Castro Arbeláez, M. A. (2022, 21 Aralık). Otobiyografik bellek – Geçmişinizi unuttuğunuzda.
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Conway, M. A., & Pleydell-Pearce, C. W. (2000). The construction of autobiographical memories in the self-memory system. Psychological Review, 107(2), 261–288. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.107.2.261
D’Argembeau, A. (2012). Autobiographical memory and future thinking. In D. Berntsen & D. C. Rubin (Eds.), Understanding autobiographical memory: Theories and approaches (pp. 311–330). Cambridge University Press.
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Neisser, U. (1978). Perceiving, anticipating, and imagining. In Perception and cognition: Issues in the foundations of psychology (pp. 89–105). Minnesota studies in the philosophy of science (Vol. 9). University of Minnesota Press. https://hdl.handle.net/11299/185331
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Ruiz-Vargas, J. M. (2004). Claves de la memoria autobiográfica. En Autobiografía en España: un balance: acta del Congreso Internacional celebrado en la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras de Córdoba (pp. xx–xx). Córdoba: Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Córdoba.
Sotgiu, I. (2021). The functions of autobiographical memory. In The psychology of autobiographical memory: History, theory, research (pp. 127–159). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69571-2_4
Spreng, R. N., Mar, R. A., & Kim, A. S. N. (2009). The common neural basis of autobiographical memory, prospection, navigation, theory of mind, and the default mode: A quantitative meta-analysis. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 21(3), 489–510. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn.2008.21029
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