Direct retrieval as a theory of involuntary autobiographical memories: evaluation and future directions

Future perspectives on the role of vantage point in memories.

“…Yet, others have argued that both involuntary and direct retrieval involve memory reconstruction (Berntsen & Nielsen, 2022), irrespective of the ease with which such memories are retrieved. Supporting these ideas, several studies have reported a lack of difference in the visual perspective adopted for involuntary and voluntary memories (for review, see Berntsen, 2023).…”

“…According to Conway and colleagues (Conway, 2005; Conway & Pleydell-Pearce, 2000), memory cues can trigger a generative and effortful retrieval process that involves searching through higher levels of abstract knowledge to zoom in on a single episode or a more direct and automatic retrieval process in which the cue triggers event-specific knowledge without additional search through the hierarchy. Memory retrieval can also be distinguished by whether it occurs voluntary or involuntary (Berntsen, 1996), and there are some parallels between direct and involuntary modes of retrieval (Berntsen, 2023). McCarroll and Lin (2024) propose that involuntary and direct voluntary memories are associated with feelings of fluency that contribute to differences in the visual perspective adopted because such metacognitive processes may signal differences in memory reconstruction.…”