I am sure that there are hundreds of experiences that you can remember the who, what, when and where’s of. For instance, I can remember getting into the bathtub on Christmas morning when I was five years old and my mom freaking out because apparently I had chicken pox. I can also remember October 30, 2009 when I turned 21 and had a costume party that stretched into Halloween. However, if you gave me a random date, say, April 28, 2003, I would have no idea what I did that day. These are called autobiographical memories, or memories that occur from personal experience. Most of us remember events that are significant to us but some of us remember nearly everything (Goldstein).
The text uses the example of a woman called A.J. that was capable of recalling any date for over 24 years. She could remember what day of the week it was and what happened to her on that day. These facts could be confirmed given her daily journal that she kept. A.J. has what they call a “super memory” (Goldstein). Another name for it is Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory, or HSAM for short. Since A.J. became a study, researchers have discovered structural differences between the brains of HSAM subjects and those without the trait. One of the differences is an “amplified white matter coherence” which could mean that information being transferred between connecting neural regions is improved and that could cause their superior memories. Maybe they are born that way or maybe something developmental helped make them that way–that much is still unknown (Cleary Ph.D., 2013).
Autobiographical memories are more intricate than “laboratory memories,” like recalling lists of words, because they have spatial, sensory and emotional components (Goldstein). This is why many of us recall things easier not only when they happened to us, but when they were significant to us. As I mentioned before…I couldn’t tell you one date from the next. However, I have a friend that can text me and say “I haven’t seen you in three months and twelve days!” with no problem. If you asked me the last time I saw him I would probably say something along the lines of “umm…maybe the beginning of the year?” I have no idea. While he always associated this ability with having a “photographic memory” he could most likely be considered as having a “Super memory” instead.
Cleary Ph.D, A. (2013, January 9). People with Extraordinary Autobiographical Memory. Retrieved November 23, 2014, from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/quirks-memory/201301/people-extraordinary-autobiographical-memory
Goldstein, B. (2011). Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research and Everyday Experience, 3rd Edition. Wadsworth, Inc.
Khadija Salim
Dr. Ford
Introduction to Cognitive Psychology
3 December, 2014
When thinking about autobiographical memories, we tend to remember and reminiscence about episodic memories such as childhood birthday parties, graduation, and holidays. While autobiographical memories contain emotional, spatial, and sensory components as the blog stated, we tend to also remember negative memories as well as the positive ones. Thankfully, the majority of the population has the ability to not have to relive the negative memories daily, but what if you were one of the few who did?
Alexandra Wolff is one of fifty-five individuals in the United States who has been identified with having a highly superior autobiographical memory, or HSAM (Spiegel, 2013). Alexandra can remember everything from an outfit she had seen years ago, to the time travel of a date she felt sick to her stomach. From a research and cognitive point of view, Alexandra is fascinating and interesting, but from an emotional point of view, one can’t help but to feel sympathetic for the struggles she conveys.
A sense of frustration is the constant emotion felt by Alexandra as she explains that her dating life is far and few in between. She spends most of her days in her room reliving the past and has particularly estimated spending 2,000 hours reliving a memory of her swimming with her younger cousin in 2004 (Spiegel, 2013). It is not uncommon for the fifty-five individuals who are inflicted with this type of memory to struggle with depression, as only two of the fifty-five have been able to maintain long-term marriages (Spiegel, 2013).
While many of us have bad days and have been through trauma throughout our lives, we have the ability to move past it and only be reminded when something relevant triggers it, or when we reminisce from time to time. Alexandra and the other fifty-four individuals do not have that same convenience and their past continues to intrude into their present and future.
Spiegel, Alix. “When Memories Never Fade, The Past Can Poison The Present.” NPR. NPR, 27 Dec. 2013. Web. 03 Dec. 2014. .