involuntary semantic memories or mind-pops
Involuntary autobiographical memories spring to mind on a daily basis. However, occasionally what pops into mind is not a memory of a past event but rather an isolated fragment of general knowledge such as a particular word or saying, a visual image or a song/melody.
For example, you may be making a cup of coffee and thinking about your upcoming holiday, when suddenly a name of an actress (Halle Berry) or an image (of a local school) comes to mind and surprises you with its irrelevance to what you were thinking or doing at the time.
Such mind-pops differ from involuntary autobiographical memories in two ways. First, detecting triggers in one’s environment or thoughts is often very difficult. Second, while most people admit having involuntary autobiographical memories, about 15-20% of people claim that they have never experienced a mind pop. On the other hand, some people report that they have mind-pops all the time.
For example, you may be making a cup of coffee and thinking about your upcoming holiday, when suddenly a name of an actress (Halle Berry) or an image (of a local school) comes to mind and surprises you with its irrelevance to what you were thinking or doing at the time.
Such mind-pops differ from involuntary autobiographical memories in two ways. First, detecting triggers in one’s environment or thoughts is often very difficult. Second, while most people admit having involuntary autobiographical memories, about 15-20% of people claim that they have never experienced a mind pop. On the other hand, some people report that they have mind-pops all the time.
research conducted at the university of hertfordshire
Although general public and novelists (e.g., Nabokov, Shalamov) have long noted the existence of mind-pops, especially songs and melodies coming to mind unexpectedly, empirical research on this topic started only in late 1990s at the University of Hertfordshire in collaboration with George Mandler, currently an Emeritus Professor at the University of California San Diego.
At initial stages of research, the primary focus was to establish the existence and prevalence of this phenomenon in general public. Results consistently show that involuntary semantic memories do exist, even though there is a large individual variability in reported frequency and type of mind-pops experienced (verbal, visual or musical).
Subsequent research has also examined conditions in which mind-pops occur in everyday life and their prevalence as a function of age and clinical conditions (e.g., schizophrenia, depression). Results show that mind-pops are reported by even very young children (5-year olds), but the number of people reporting experiencing them diminishes as people get older. Of particular interest are findings which show that schizophrenia patients report experiencing mind-pops more frequently than controls and people with depression (Elua et al., 2012). These findings suggest a novel idea that mind-pops may be a raw cognitive material for at least some of the auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia.
For more information on findings from this research, see an online article in Scientific American by Ferris Jabr (23 May, 2012).
At initial stages of research, the primary focus was to establish the existence and prevalence of this phenomenon in general public. Results consistently show that involuntary semantic memories do exist, even though there is a large individual variability in reported frequency and type of mind-pops experienced (verbal, visual or musical).
Subsequent research has also examined conditions in which mind-pops occur in everyday life and their prevalence as a function of age and clinical conditions (e.g., schizophrenia, depression). Results show that mind-pops are reported by even very young children (5-year olds), but the number of people reporting experiencing them diminishes as people get older. Of particular interest are findings which show that schizophrenia patients report experiencing mind-pops more frequently than controls and people with depression (Elua et al., 2012). These findings suggest a novel idea that mind-pops may be a raw cognitive material for at least some of the auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia.
For more information on findings from this research, see an online article in Scientific American by Ferris Jabr (23 May, 2012).