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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.dehttp://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.

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

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