RUI: The Content and Structure of Autobiographical Memory

Barnard College, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

Research on autobiographical memory has proliferated in recent years, both in personality and in cognitive psychology. Yet there has been little exchange of ideas between the two areas. Cognitive analyses of autobiographical memory are methodologically sophisticated, but they typically do not consider personality variables -- even though self-relevant memories are inherently linked to personality. Analyses of personality often rely on narrative accounts to study autobiographical memory, allowing sensitivity to the role of individual difference factors such as motives and goals that contribute to the variability of autobiographical memories. Yet, these narrative data do not allow for the investigation of the mediating factors that determine the variability in such memories. The current research examines a model of autobiographical memory that bridges the gap between personality and cognitive research, focusing on how basic cognitive processes impact social functioning. The research findings should reveal how encoding processes allow individuals to understand their life experiences in ways that may have a profound impact on their social functioning.