Autobiographical Memories
Philosopher James Mill once said, “The phenomenon of the Self and that of Mem- ory are merely two sides of the same fact.” If the story of patient William Thomp- son at the start of this chapter is any indication, Mill was right. You would have no coherent self-concept without autobiographical memories—the recollections of the sequences of events that have touched your life.
Think about it: Who would you be if you could not remember your parents or childhood friends, your successes and failures, the places you lived, the schools you attended, the books you read, and the teams you played for? Clearly, memories shape the self-concept. In this section, we’ll see that the self-concept shapes our personal memories as well. In particular, people like to reminisce about happy autobiographical memories. It makes us feel good to savor an old birthday celebration, wedding, family vacation, successful job inter- view, sports victory, or a great meal. Even more specifically, it seems that our most treasured memories involve experiences that we shared with other people rather than alone. For example, recent studies have shown that people would rather think about and attach greater value to positive social memories (like playing in the snow with friends) than to positive solo memories (like getting a good grade). “Social experiences imbue our lives with meaning”
