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More to episodic memory than epistemic assertion: The role of social bonds and interpersonal connection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2018

William Hirst  and
Gerald Echterhoff
William Hirst
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, New School for Social Research, New York, NY 10011. hirst@newschool.edu
Gerald Echterhoff
Affiliation:
Social Psychology Group, Department of Psychology, University of Münster, D-48149 Münster, Germany. g.echterhoff@uni-muenster.de http://geraldechterhoff.com
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Abstract

Remembering is dynamically entangled in conversations. The communicative function of episodic memory can be epistemic, as suggested by Mahr & Csibra (M&C). However, remembering can have genuinely social functions, specifically, the creation or consolidation of interpersonal relationships. Autonoesis, a distinct feature of episodic memory, is more likely to have evolved in the service of social binding than of epistemic assertiveness.

Information

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 41 , 2018 , e17
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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