Building Bridges: A Narrative about Two Camps of Autobiographical Memory Researchers

Document Type

Book Chapter

Source of Publication

Autobiographical Memory and the Life Story

Publication Date

11-20-2025

Abstract

Two distinct lines of research characterize the psychological work on autobiographical memory. One line of research examines the way people give meaning to their lives and achieve a sense of personal identity, often in the form of narrative construction. An alternative line of research questions experimental psychologists have been asking about memory more generally, but now focuses on phenomena of autobiographical memory, such as conditions of retrieval and forgetting. Each line of research undoubtedly taps into important facets of autobiographical memory. But at present, the investigative efforts might be more accurately described as siloes rather than lines of research. Indeed, one could delve deeply into one of these siloes and be perfectly unaware that a whole body of research on autobiographical memory exists outside the silo. This chapter examines why research on autobiographical memory has become so siloed, exploring methodological differences, but also the differences in what each might view as basic, fundamental questions. It then turns to what is lost by the siloing of autobiographical memory research and ends by urging more interaction between the two areas.

ISBN

9781009492140

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

First Page

34

Last Page

59

Disciplines

Psychology

Keywords

Identity, Memory, and Therapy, Memory Processes and Influences, Autobiographical and Biographical Writing

Indexed in Scopus

no

Open Access

no

Link to Full Text

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