Involuntary memory
Encyclopedia
Involuntary memory is a conception of human memory
in which cues encountered in everyday life evoke recollections of the past without conscious effort. Its binary opposite, voluntary memory, is a deliberate effort to recall the past. The term was coined by French author Marcel Proust
. From this philosophical root, involuntary memory has become a part of modern psychology
.
Although involuntary memory is commonly connected to the literature of Marcel Proust, it had long before been recognized by psychologists, most notably, the pioneering memory researcher Hermann Ebbinghaus
. Writing about it in the first scientific study of memory, Ebbinghaus described the basis of both involuntary and voluntary memory, providing a groundwork for generations of memory researchers that followed. (see Hermann Ebbinghaus [1885] Memory: A contribution to experimental psychology.)
. souvenir involontaire) is a concept made famous by the French writer Marcel Proust in his novel In Search of Lost Time
(or Remembrance of Things Past), although the idea was also developed in his earlier writings, Contre Sainte-Beuve
and Jean Santeuil. It is, thus, sometimes referred to as "Proustian memory."
Proust contrasts involuntary memory with voluntary memory. The latter designates memories retrieved by "intelligence," that is, memories produced by putting conscious effort into remembering events, people, and places. Proust's narrator laments that such memories are inevitably partial, and do not bear the "essence" of the past. The most famous instance of involuntary memory by Proust is known as the "episode of the madeleine," yet there are at least half a dozen other examples in In Search of Lost Time including such distinct memories produced by the scent of a public lavatory on the Champs-Élysées
.
The function of involuntary memory in the novel, however, is not self-evident. It has been argued that involuntary memory unlocks the Narrator's past as the subject of his novel, but also that he does not, for example, begin writing until many years after the episode of the madeleine. Other critics have suggested that it is not the recovery of the past, per se, that is significant for the Narrator, but rather the happiness produced by his recognition of the past in a present moment. Maurice Blanchot
in Le Livre à venir points out that involuntary memories are empyreal and poignant, and cannot effectively support a sustained narrative. He notes that the difference between Proust's uncompleted Jean Santeuil and In Search of Lost Time is that voluntary memories provide the connective tissue between such moments, making up the vast bulk of the narrative of the later novel.
A possible contemporary influence on Proust's conception of involuntary memory may have been his cousin-in-law, the French philosopher Henri Bergson
, who, in Matter and Memory (1906), made a distinction between two types of memory, one, the habit of memory as in learning a poem by heart, and two, the spontaneous memory that stores up perceptions and impressions, which later reveals itself in sudden flashes. Critique of Proust in the last quarter century, however, has tended to discount the influence of Bergson on Proust's ideas.
, who published the results of his study as early as 1939. The distinction between involuntary and voluntary memory (i.e. such memory that results from deliberate memorization as opposed to memory as a by-product of other, non-mnemonic activity) was subsequently developed by such Soviet psychologists as Smirnov, Istomina, Shlychkova, and particularly, by such representatives of Kharkov School of Psychology
as P. Zinchenko
, Repkina, Sereda, Bocharova, Ivanova, &c.
Soviet research on involuntary memory significantly influenced psychological research in the West. A wide range of European and North American studies on involuntary remembering in children (e.g. by Meacham, Murphy and Brown
, Sophian & Hagen, Schneider, Reese, Ivanova & Nevoennaya, Mistry, Rogoff & Herman) demonstrated viability and promise of the activity-based model of human memory.
, mainstream (experimental) psychology neglected its study for a century, focusing more on voluntary and other types of memory. Near the end of the twentieth century, however, the concept was reintroduced to memory researchers by Linton (1986), Schacter (1987), and Schank (1982). The first scientific studies were conducted by Berntsen (1996) and Richardson-Klavehn, Gardiner, and Java (1994); Then, more recently, by Ball and Little (2006), Kvavilashvili and Mandler (2004), and Mace (2004).
Scientific psychological interest in the topic of involuntary memory is a bit different from the interests of other circles (e.g., literary or psychoanalytic) in that, generally, scientific circles are attempting to understand the basic nature of everyday involuntary memories (including their possible functions), as well as use of them to learn more about the basic functioning of autobiographical memory (including voluntary memory, see Mace, 2007, for a review of the past ten years of research).
Memory
In psychology, memory is an organism's ability to store, retain, and recall information and experiences. Traditional studies of memory began in the fields of philosophy, including techniques of artificially enhancing memory....
in which cues encountered in everyday life evoke recollections of the past without conscious effort. Its binary opposite, voluntary memory, is a deliberate effort to recall the past. The term was coined by French author Marcel Proust
Marcel Proust
Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust was a French novelist, critic, and essayist best known for his monumental À la recherche du temps perdu...
. From this philosophical root, involuntary memory has become a part of modern psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
.
Although involuntary memory is commonly connected to the literature of Marcel Proust, it had long before been recognized by psychologists, most notably, the pioneering memory researcher Hermann Ebbinghaus
Hermann Ebbinghaus
Hermann Ebbinghaus was a German psychologist who pioneered the experimental study of memory, and is known for his discovery of the forgetting curve and the spacing effect. He was also the first person to describe the learning curve...
. Writing about it in the first scientific study of memory, Ebbinghaus described the basis of both involuntary and voluntary memory, providing a groundwork for generations of memory researchers that followed. (see Hermann Ebbinghaus [1885] Memory: A contribution to experimental psychology.)
Marcel Proust
Involuntary memory (frFrench language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
. souvenir involontaire) is a concept made famous by the French writer Marcel Proust in his novel In Search of Lost Time
In Search of Lost Time
In Search of Lost Time or Remembrance of Things Past is a novel in seven volumes by Marcel Proust. His most prominent work, it is popularly known for its considerable length and the notion of involuntary memory, the most famous example being the "episode of the madeleine." The novel is widely...
(or Remembrance of Things Past), although the idea was also developed in his earlier writings, Contre Sainte-Beuve
Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve
Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve was a literary critic and one of the major figures of French literary history.-Early years:...
and Jean Santeuil. It is, thus, sometimes referred to as "Proustian memory."
Proust contrasts involuntary memory with voluntary memory. The latter designates memories retrieved by "intelligence," that is, memories produced by putting conscious effort into remembering events, people, and places. Proust's narrator laments that such memories are inevitably partial, and do not bear the "essence" of the past. The most famous instance of involuntary memory by Proust is known as the "episode of the madeleine," yet there are at least half a dozen other examples in In Search of Lost Time including such distinct memories produced by the scent of a public lavatory on the Champs-Élysées
Champs-Élysées
The Avenue des Champs-Élysées is a prestigious avenue in Paris, France. With its cinemas, cafés, luxury specialty shops and clipped horse-chestnut trees, the Avenue des Champs-Élysées is one of the most famous streets and one of the most expensive strip of real estate in the world. The name is...
.
The function of involuntary memory in the novel, however, is not self-evident. It has been argued that involuntary memory unlocks the Narrator's past as the subject of his novel, but also that he does not, for example, begin writing until many years after the episode of the madeleine. Other critics have suggested that it is not the recovery of the past, per se, that is significant for the Narrator, but rather the happiness produced by his recognition of the past in a present moment. Maurice Blanchot
Maurice Blanchot
Maurice Blanchot was a French writer, philosopher, and literary theorist. His work had a strong influence on post-structuralist philosophers such as Jacques Derrida.-Works:...
in Le Livre à venir points out that involuntary memories are empyreal and poignant, and cannot effectively support a sustained narrative. He notes that the difference between Proust's uncompleted Jean Santeuil and In Search of Lost Time is that voluntary memories provide the connective tissue between such moments, making up the vast bulk of the narrative of the later novel.
A possible contemporary influence on Proust's conception of involuntary memory may have been his cousin-in-law, the French philosopher Henri Bergson
Henri Bergson
Henri-Louis Bergson was a major French philosopher, influential especially in the first half of the 20th century. Bergson convinced many thinkers that immediate experience and intuition are more significant than rationalism and science for understanding reality.He was awarded the 1927 Nobel Prize...
, who, in Matter and Memory (1906), made a distinction between two types of memory, one, the habit of memory as in learning a poem by heart, and two, the spontaneous memory that stores up perceptions and impressions, which later reveals itself in sudden flashes. Critique of Proust in the last quarter century, however, has tended to discount the influence of Bergson on Proust's ideas.
Developmental psychology
In psychological research, involuntary memory was systematically studied by Soviet psychologists who investigated primarily the interrelation between specific human activity (other than deliberate remembering), the place of the material to be remembered, and the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of recall. The pioneer of the research in this field was the student of Vygotsky and Leont'ev, and one of the leading representatives of the Soviet school of psychology, Pyotr ZinchenkoPyotr Zinchenko
Pyotr Ivanovich Zinchenko was a Soviet developmental psychologist, a student of Lev Vygotsky and Alexei Leontiev and one of the major representatives of the Kharkov School of Psychology...
, who published the results of his study as early as 1939. The distinction between involuntary and voluntary memory (i.e. such memory that results from deliberate memorization as opposed to memory as a by-product of other, non-mnemonic activity) was subsequently developed by such Soviet psychologists as Smirnov, Istomina, Shlychkova, and particularly, by such representatives of Kharkov School of Psychology
Kharkov School of Psychology
Kharkiv School of Psychology is a tradition of developmental psychological research conducted in the paradigm of Lev Vygotsky's "sociocultural theory of mind" and Leontiev's psychological activity theory....
as P. Zinchenko
Pyotr Zinchenko
Pyotr Ivanovich Zinchenko was a Soviet developmental psychologist, a student of Lev Vygotsky and Alexei Leontiev and one of the major representatives of the Kharkov School of Psychology...
, Repkina, Sereda, Bocharova, Ivanova, &c.
Soviet research on involuntary memory significantly influenced psychological research in the West. A wide range of European and North American studies on involuntary remembering in children (e.g. by Meacham, Murphy and Brown
Ann Brown
Ann Leslie Brown was an educational psychologist who developed methods for teaching children to be better learners. Her interest in the human memory brought Brown to focus on active memory strategies that would help enhance human memory and developmental differences in memory tasks...
, Sophian & Hagen, Schneider, Reese, Ivanova & Nevoennaya, Mistry, Rogoff & Herman) demonstrated viability and promise of the activity-based model of human memory.
Experimental psychology
Despite the early recognition of involuntary memory, such as by EbbinghausHermann Ebbinghaus
Hermann Ebbinghaus was a German psychologist who pioneered the experimental study of memory, and is known for his discovery of the forgetting curve and the spacing effect. He was also the first person to describe the learning curve...
, mainstream (experimental) psychology neglected its study for a century, focusing more on voluntary and other types of memory. Near the end of the twentieth century, however, the concept was reintroduced to memory researchers by Linton (1986), Schacter (1987), and Schank (1982). The first scientific studies were conducted by Berntsen (1996) and Richardson-Klavehn, Gardiner, and Java (1994); Then, more recently, by Ball and Little (2006), Kvavilashvili and Mandler (2004), and Mace (2004).
Scientific psychological interest in the topic of involuntary memory is a bit different from the interests of other circles (e.g., literary or psychoanalytic) in that, generally, scientific circles are attempting to understand the basic nature of everyday involuntary memories (including their possible functions), as well as use of them to learn more about the basic functioning of autobiographical memory (including voluntary memory, see Mace, 2007, for a review of the past ten years of research).