Succinctly defined, it is memory for events and issues related to oneself that includes memories for specific experiences and memory for the personal facts of one’s life (e.g., remembering buying your first house). Accordingly, we remember more about events occurring at particular periods in time that define us individuals. What is involved in this type of memory are the following: long-term recollection of general features of an event (what took place?), the interpretations we impose on them (what was it like?), and some degree of recall of a few of the more specific details of the event (what was a particular person wearing?). To date, there are three types of autobiographical memory: personal memory (an image of a single unrepeated event), autobiographical fact, and generic personal memory. The latter two are similar to personal memory, with the exception that they are not image based. When autobiographical memories are vivid, they are referred to as ‘flashbulb’ memories (memory of a situation in which you learned of a very unexpected and emotional event for the first time, in most cases, events with national or international significance). All told, autobiographical memories may represent personal meaning of an event, but with diminished accuracy. Considered by some to be a uniquely human feature, there is some debate as to whether all autographical memories are episodic in nature. From a developmental perspective, some have argued that episodic memory precedes autobiographical memory.
See Childhood amnesia, Episodic event and semantic memory, Infantile amnesia, Memory