INVESTIGATING THE STRUCTURE OF AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMORIES

Five experiments investigated the structure of autobiographical memori es. In Experiments 1-3 a timed production paradigm was used, and Ss li sted details of memories in free recall, in forward order (from first to last), in reverse order, in terms of centrality, and in term's of t he interest value of the details. Memory detail production rates were significantly higher under free recall and forward order listing, and details listed in free recall were associated with the most personally important detail in a memory. Experiment 4 found that once a memory w as accessed, both distinctive and beginning details of memories were a vailable equally quickly, whereas Experiment 5 found that distinctive details provided significantly faster access to individual memories th an beginning and ending details. These findings show that both persona lly significant knowledge and temporal knowledge play central roles in the organization of specific memories.