The organization and structure of autobiographical memory

The topic of autobiographical memory has held a prominent role in memory research for the past 30 years, as it has proven indispensable to the understanding of human memory and cognition. An important focus of autobiographical memory research is uncovering the basic structure, nature, and organization of the autobiographical memory system. This book explores the organization and structure of autobiographical memory. Based on over thirty years of research, and the latest empirical findings, it presents the major theories and problems in the science of autobiographical memory organization. At its core are two influential global views on the organization, structure, and function of autobiographical memory (chapters 2 and 3). In addition, the volume examines the organization of autobiographical memory from a developmental perspective (chapter 4). It includes a chapter examining the neuroscience of autobiographical memory organization (chapter 7), and a chapter examining organization from a functional perspective (chapter 6). Also covered is the role of culture in forming autobiographical memory (chapter 5), the role of the self in organizing autobiographical memory (chapter 8), insights from the reminiscence bump on organization (chapter 9), and a chapter on the organization of episodic autobiographical memories (chapter 10). For students and researcher with an interest in memory, the volume is a timely and important addition to their literature.

1 - Introduction and overview
2 - Placing Autobiographical Memory in a General Memory Organization
3 - The Self-Memory System Revisited: Past, Present, and Future
4 - Development and Organization of Autobiographical Memory Form and Function
5 - Culture in the Organization of Autobiographical Memory
6 - Form follows function: autobiographical memory in ecological context
7 - The Neural Basis of Autobiographical Memory
8 - The role of the self in the organization of memories and imagined future events
9 - The Cue-Dependency of the "Reminiscence Bumps" in Autobiographical Memory and Memory for Public Events: What They Reveal About Memory Organization
10 - The associative nature of episodic memories: The primacy of conceptual associations

John H Mace is a cognitive psychologist who specializes in the study of memory. He is Professor and Chair of Psychology at Eastern Illinois University, and author of Involuntary Memory (Blackwell, 2007) and The Act of Remembering (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010).