Ordering the components of autobiographical events

Memory for the temporal order of the components of autobiographical events was examined in two experiments. Experiments 1 and 2 examined the relationship between reaction times to recognise photographs of the components of events and ordering of these photographs. Reaction times were not related to true event position, nor to assigned temporal position, in a manner consistent with an activation strength model of temporal ordering. In contrast, ordering performance was found to be related to event vividness ratings, ability to classify a photograph as one the participant had taken, and retention interval. These findings are all consistent with the hypothesis that the order of an autobiographical event’s components is determined by the associative structure that links each component to its general event memory. Overall, memory for the order of the components of autobiographical events may be initially based on associations between the event components and their general event memory representation. These associations appear to decay rapidly leaving only reconstructive ability as the determinant of event component order.