Controlled Processes in Voluntary Remembering

The focus of this chapter is on voluntary remembering, in which memories are retrieved through a
deliberate, goal-directed search process. Voluntary remembering occurs either in response to an external query or to a query that is generated internally by the person, usually in order to achieve some higherorder goal. For example, a person may try to recall the name of a person, to answer an exam question, or to recount an entire episode to a friend. This type of remembering can be contrasted with involuntary memory, in which past events come to mind spontaneously and automatically, without any conscious intention to conjure them up. Involuntary memory often occurs during routine daily activity, without any apparent cue (Berntsen, 1996, 1998; Kvavilashvili and Mandler, 2004). An important subclass of involuntary memory that has received special attention is that of intrusive memories. Such memories, typically of traumatic events, occur not only in the absence of an intention to retrieve the events but also against the person’s will (Koutstaal and Schacter, 1997; McNally, 1998). Intrusive memories reflect a failure of control over retrieval, because the person is unable to prevent these memories from arising, or fails to terminate them once they arise. Although we concentrate here on voluntary remembering, we stress that the distinction between voluntary and involuntary memory processes is not sharp, and that any particular act of remembering may involve a mixture of these types of processes. For example, during the deliberate scrutinizing of one’s memory for a particular detail, various memory fragments may suggest themselves, diverting the search in new directions. Sometimes, such fragments may even ‘intrude’ against the rememberer’s will, blocking access to other, desired pieces of information.