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The slave model of autobiographical memory

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Abstract

In this paper the nature of the relationship between psychological mechanisms that process semantic information and those that process autobiographical memory is considered. On the basis of theoretical work by Endel Tulving, and empirical research into the construction of false memories, a novel model of autobiographical memory construction is proposed. This model is referred to as the slave model of autobiographical memory and has that the mechanisms responsible for the production of autobiographical memories are enslaved to those that support semantic information, in the sense that beliefs determine the content of autobiographical memory. Implications of the model for the potential double dissociation of semantic and episodic memory are considered; as are recent accounts of autobiographical memory construction.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank John Sutton for his encouragement and helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper. I would also like to thank my wife Julie for her encouragement and support during the writing of this material. Finally, I would like to thank the Australian Department of Education, Science and Training, for providing the Australian Postgraduate Award that partially funded the writing of the doctoral thesis from which this material is drawn.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia

    Carl Windhorst

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  1. Carl Windhorst
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Correspondence to Carl Windhorst.

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Communicated by John Sutton

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Windhorst, C. The slave model of autobiographical memory. Cogn Process 6, 253–265 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-005-0011-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-005-0011-0

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