Search Results

The reminiscence bump most commonly refers to the disproportionate number of autobiographical memories, in adults aged ≥40 years, dating from youth and early adulthood. Whereas the bump in autobiographical memory has primarily been studied by psychologists, it has been paralleled in the sociology literature in a spike in recall for public events that occurred at a similar period of the lifespan. This chapter reviews findings illustrating that the temporal location of the bump (in autobiographical memory) and the frequency with which it is found (in memory for public events) vary according to the cueing method used to elicit the memories. For instance, in autobiographical memory, the bump is earlier when memories are elicited through cue words than when memories are elicited through requests for important memories. In memory for public events, the bump is more frequently attained when recall is tested through open-ended recall than when it is tested through knowledge tests. It is argued that these findings indicate that retrieval processes play a large role in the bump in each domain, and therefore challenge most existing theoretical accounts, which stress encoding processes. The relevant retrieval processes in each domain are then discussed. Finally, the implications of the reviewed findings, in particular those concerning autobiographical memory, are discussed as they relate to models of the organization of autobiographical memory.

Starting with the one-child policy in China as an example, this chapter discusses the development of the autobiographical self in a historical context and highlights the dynamic, transient nature of culture in shaping this development. Through examining the phenomena of living-in-history effect, flashbulb memory, and reminiscence bump, it argues further that the autobiographical self is shaped by the social, political, and economic characteristics of a society. Then by analyzing the distinct characteristics of the autobiographical self constructed in social media such as blogs and Facebook, it discusses the implication of Internet technologies for the modern self.

This chapter explores the use of images from local history archives in the co-construction of short individual films with people with dementia. The study on which the chapter is based was carried out with two men and eight women living in a housing-with-care facility in the northern United Kingdom. The chapter finds that archive images quickly took on a central role in the film narratives of several of the participants. In the process, the archive materials themselves were also transformed, memorialising the everyday spaces and places in which the participants had lived. In this study, archive images were often used to elicit memories of people, or places that no longer look the same in the present day. The chapter reveals that such images were often more recognisable to the participants than were contemporary photographs. This corresponds with research into the ‘reminiscence bump’, which suggests that autobiographical memory for the period between about five and thirty years of age remains well preserved in people living with dementia.

This chapter focuses on long-term memory that is particularly event specific: autobiographical memory. Autobiographical memories are memories of the events of our lives, usually in large-scale terms. They make up our own personal narratives of who we are and what we’ve experienced. Autobiographical memory is related to episodic memory in the sense that it captures the various events in which we’ve been involved. However, autobiographical memories are more highly structured and more interpretive. They include aspects of experience that are not directly observable parts of events, such as our understanding of why something happened, what our and other people’s goals are, and the unifying threads that join many smaller events into the rich tapestry of life. In this way, autobiographic memories often bring together events that are separated in time but that share some underlying theme in our life narrative.