Autobiographical Memory

Autobiographical memory is a knowledge base of episodic memories for personal events which are experienced throughout the life (Conway & Pleydell-Pearce, 2000; Williams et al., 2007).

In light of theoretical and emprical approaches, the rich role of autobiographical memory has been examined not only in daily life and non-clinical sample, but also in clinical sample. As a matter of fact, theoretical approach suggests that autobiographical memory serves three primary functions (e.g. Pillmer ,1992; Cohen ,1998; Bluck at al., 2005): (a) directive or problem solving function, (b) self or identity function, and (c) communicative function. In line with this, a large body of evidence support the correlation between recalling the specific autobiographical

For instance, Dalgleish and Yiend (2006) asked dysphoric adults to recall a specific negative past event. Participants were subsequently either asked or not asked to suppress the memory. The results revealed that thought suppression resulted in the faster recall of negative episodic memories. Moreover, Neufeind, Dritschel, Astell, and MacLeod (2009) investigated the effectes of suppressing memories regarding a distressing video clip on the recall of other autobiographical memories. The results were consistent ith the findings of Dalgleish and Yiend (2006) in terms of faster recall of negative episodic memories. They also found that higher levels of trait thought suppression were correlated with reduced recall of personal semantic memories. Furthermore, In the study of Geraerts, Hauer, and Wessel ( 2010), Individuals were asked to suppress thoughts related to a personal experience in order to study the effects of thought suppression on subsequent over-general memory. Interestingly, they did not find that suppression influenced the specificity of autobiographical memories. Notwithstanding, based on the findings of study of Quang Phung, and Bryant (2013), participants instructed to either thought suppression or emotional inhibition retrieved fewer categoric autobiographical memories in contrast to controls. That is to say, their finding is inconsistent with the affect

According to ironic con¬trol theory, there is an active avoidance strategy which is cognitive demanding. This theory posits also that suppression should paradoxically result in more awareness of related autobiographical memories. Havind said that, CarFAX states that there is a more passive process, becoming habitual over time. Moreover, this theory also predicts that avoidance should result in the fewer recall of specific autobiographical memories ( see Quang Phung, and Bryant 2013 ). Given the inconsistencies in this literature, it remains to be seen whether thought suppression will increase overgeneral autobiographical