Examples Of Autobiographical Memory

Autobiographical Memory Researchers have studied whether memories triggered by odors elicit more emotion than memories generated by verbal cues. There are many scents that trigger memories in my mind. Oddly, for me, the sour smell of raw meat correlates with warm, loving memories. When I was five years old girl, I was often envious of my mother and grandmother cooking together for the Jewish holidays. I was too young to understand the dangers of the oven and the stove, so year after year I was frustrated that I was excluded from the meal preparation. After a few seasons of whining and complaining, my grandma decided to humor me. For the big feast on the first night of Rosh HaShanah, she enlisted my help. She chose an interesting dish my five year old self could actually help make: meatloaf mashed potato cupcakes. Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed helping my grandma make them and for a few years it was somewhat of a holiday ritual. I would
Johan Willander and Maria Larsson from Stockholm University surmised that memories provoked by odors are more emotional and pleasant than memories prompted by word triggers. In my case, I have heard the words “mashed potatoes” and “meat” hundreds, maybe thousands of times since my cupcake making days. However, the first time in nearly a decade the memory had resurfaced was from a scent trigger. Also, the researchers concluded that olfactory memories are more likely to derive from the first decade of an individual’s life. My mother has cooked dinner at home almost every night and I have smelled raw beef and potatoes many times over the last eight years. However, when I smelled my suitemate’s dinner, I recalled experiences that occurred during the first decade of my life, not to my dinner table a few months ago, which supports the Swedish study