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Autobiographical memory

Aleksandra Walczak1,2, Barbara Wiśniewska2

Affiliacja i adres do korespondencji
PSYCHIATR. PSYCHOL. KLIN. 2011, 11 (1), p. 51-54
Streszczenie

The term of autobiographical memory (AM) started to occur in scientific papers in the eighties of the 20th century. It has been defined by Tulving as a memory of individual past and mostly described as long-term, declarative memory. It comprises episodic and semantic elements, some researchers even claim that AM is a special case of episodic memory. The aim of this study is to introduce the issue of AM along with its chosen concepts, functions, neurobiological basis and assessment methods. The most popular concepts of AM have been described in this paper. In the first one a distinct influence of Tulving’s division of declarative memory into episodic and semantic memory is shown. The author of the second concept claims that AM comprises autobiographical memories and autobiographical database. This study describes also the functions of AM with the classification presented by Maruszewski, choosing such functions as informative, communicative, interpersonal, motivating-emotional and organizational one. The parts of brain structures responsible for its correct functioning, i.a. hippocampus or thalamus have also been characterised along with the results of its malfunctioning as well as chosen assessment methods of AM, which are i.a. the oldest – Galton technique, Crovitz and Schiffman technique, Autobiographical Memory Interview (AMI) and the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT). Despite the fact that the term of AM is relatively new, it is the subject of interest of many researchers, which shows its great role in human life, if only because it enables the establishment and maintenance of relations with other people.

Słowa kluczowe
long-term memory, declarative memory, semantic memory, episodic memory, autobiographical memory