Autobiographical Memory How we remember our own lives is a huge factor in how we view ourselves in general. As such, our autobiographical memory can both impact and be impacted by our mood and mindset. The concept of the autobiographical memory is incredibly complex, and is often varied based on individual experiences and mood sets.

The notion of the autobiographical memory is a complicated one for sure. There is a vast body of research that uses it in a number of contexts, but still a similar pattern emerges. Essentially, "autobiographical memory is the aspect of memory that is concerned with the recollection of personally experienced past events" (Williams et al., 2007). It is our own recollection of how we view our past to have occurred. As such, the "autobiographical memory is of fundamental significance for the self, for emotions, and for the experience of personhood, that is for the experience of enduring as an individual, in a culture, over time" (Conway & Pleydell-Pearce,...

How we remember the events of our past can significantly impact our future.
The first study examined here is Conway & Pleydell-Pearce (2000). It is a study that focuses on explaining the autobiographical memory as one which is flexible, based on transitory elements. Here, the research states that "memories are transitory mental constructions within a self-memory system" (Conway & Pleydell-Pearce, 2000). The notion of the self is in many ways dependent on the ability to process autobiographical memories because it is "a working self" (Conway & Pleydell-Pearce, 2000). Essentially, it helps us writer our own memories of ourselves, and is thus subject to our own biases and preconceptions in that they may taint our recollection of events.

It is interesting to see how the individual's autobiographical memory is actually impacted by various factors that are unique to that individual. One 2007 research study done by Williams et al. explored the idea…