Ways to study the unbidden past

Abstract

Indeed, I believe that if more psychologists were themselves willing to undergo the tests they devise or the experimental procedures to which they subject others, we would find a marked upsurge in the significance and vitality of research. (Singer 1966, p. 15) Why have cognitive psychologists been reluctant to study involuntary autobiographical memories, while voluntary autobiographical memory has been studied at length? Probably some of the answer has to do with the challenge of developing a useful method. In this regard, it is useful to remember George Miller's (1962) hesitation: “Consider the difficulties that would face any scientist who wanted to study such mental phenomena. His first difficulty would be that he has no way to capture the things he wishes to study. He can only sit and wait, hoping for the improbable” (p. 180; see also Chapter 1). Obviously, I am much more optimistic than Miller. Nonetheless, I do not think that his skepticism was completely unwarranted. Although useful methods have been developed, methodology is still a problem that involuntary memory researchers have to consider very seriously. In this chapter, I will discuss various empirical approaches to involuntary autobiographical memories, including sampling, survey, diary, and laboratory methods. The diary method has been the most frequently used approach for studying everyday involuntary memories. Later in this chapter, I will therefore describe my first diary study on involuntary autobiographical memories, which had only me as a participant.