The possible functions of involuntary autobiographical memories

Abstract

AbstractInvoluntary autobiographical memories are memories of personal experiences that come to mind spontaneously—that is with no preceding attempt at retrieval. We propose that such memories form a basic mode of remembering that is as frequent, common and functional as voluntary remembering but presumably evolutionarily earlier than the latter. In contrast to voluntary recall, the activation of involuntary memories involves little executive control. It typically depends on a distinct feature‐overlap between the remembered and current situation, which favours the activation of specific episodic information. Involuntary remembering may serve the overarching function of providing a sense of continuity across time, thereby automatically updating our personal sense of existence. Furthermore, since involuntary memories yield fast access to memories of specific events with a distinctive content‐overlap to the current situation, they may serve important directive functions in novel situations. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.