Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Preface
- 1 Introduction to the unbidden past
- 2 Theoretical backgrounds
- 3 Ways to study the unbidden past
- 4 How special are involuntary autobiographical memories?
- 5 How do they come to mind?
- 6 Differences between involuntary and voluntary autobiographical memories
- 7 Involuntary memories of traumatic events
- 8 Future and past
- References
- Index
2 - Theoretical backgrounds
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 June 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Preface
- 1 Introduction to the unbidden past
- 2 Theoretical backgrounds
- 3 Ways to study the unbidden past
- 4 How special are involuntary autobiographical memories?
- 5 How do they come to mind?
- 6 Differences between involuntary and voluntary autobiographical memories
- 7 Involuntary memories of traumatic events
- 8 Future and past
- References
- Index
Summary
Historically, psychology has long recognized the existence of two different forms of mental organization. The distinction has been given many names “rational” vs. “intuitive,” “constrained” vs. “creative,” “logical” vs. “prelogical,” “realistic” vs. “autistic,” “secondary process” vs. “primary process” … a common thread runs through all the dichotomies. Some thinking and remembering is deliberate, efficient and obviously goal-directed; it is usually experienced as self-controlled as well. Other mental activity is rich, chaotic and inefficient; it tends to be experienced as involuntary, it just “happens.”
(Neisser, 1967, p. 297)Involuntary autobiographical memories belong to a class of mental phenomena that enter consciousness in an uncontrolled fashion and thus in ways that may appear to be inexplicable and maybe even mystifying to the individual. For example, a former colleague reported that he was often reminded of a particular school friend when he ate cheese with caraway seeds (which he rarely did). Not being able to detect any connection between this person and cheese with caraway seeds, he turned to “the expert” for an explanation. Unfortunately, I could not provide one that he felt was completely satisfying. Nonetheless, in what follows, I will try to provide an overall theory of involuntary autobiographical memories that has the potentials of accounting for most individual cases (although it may be possible for the reader to come up with personal observations and anecdotes that it seems to miss).
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Involuntary Autobiographical MemoriesAn Introduction to the Unbidden Past, pp. 19 - 49Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009