Interview with Jack Meacham (page 2)

Ray: I guess I think that even in retrospective memory there is still someone getting the message, so taking that memory and trying to accommodate it with a future plan of action is somewhat similar, but also uncertain. In other words what one has done in the past, may not work in the future, but it still provides the basis for future action. Does that seem contrary to what you're saying? I hope not.

Jack: Episodic and prospective remembering: In my 1975 paper, reprinted as a chapter in Neisser's 1982 book, I wrote: "Two major categories of prospective remembering which ought to be distinguished, however, may be termed 'habitual' and 'episodic.' In the case of habitual remembering, the activity is one which is routinely engaged in--e.g., remembering to brush one's teeth before going to bed at night. . . . Episodic remembering, on the other hand, involves an action which is performed either infrequently or on an irregular basis, so that the performance of the action is dependent upon remembering to carry out the action--e.g., buying bread on the way home from work. Of course, whether a particular activity is said to involve episodic or habitual remembering can depend on the success of the individual in routinizing the activity. . . . "

In short, I agree with what you write about the overlap in the
constructs of episodic and prospective.

You likely know that some people have questioned the distinction between retrospective and prospective memory/remembering--there are some articles and book chapters. So (point of what I just wrote) I see where you are going (in your paragraph about remembering messages, etc. For some examples, the distinction between retrospective and prospective is quite clear, but for others less so. I think my chapter on "interpersonal relations and prospective remembering" (listed in the first message) was my last effort to drive home the distinction, as I
knew by then that some people were questioning it.

Ray: I also agree that there is a difference between the kinds of actions that have become habituated and somewhat irregular actions that take more effort to remember to do. Basically what I'm focusing on is the terminology, what has/hasn't changed, and what researchers are writing about more. For example, in cognitive linguistics if a person were to take a strong position on the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis then he/she is called a crackpot, but if it's framed in terms of language habits then it's ok.

The distinction between retrospective and prospective memory/remembering is an important one and I'm not sure that my point is to blur the line between them. I'll definitely read the chapter you referenced, "interpersonal relations and prospective remembering". What I'm curious about is what is different when a person thinks about the past versus the future. Does that involve the same memory process, except for the future it involves some uncertainty and possibly anxiety?

Jack: If you to explore memory in a social context, then I think that my latest (now old) chapter would be _very_ helpful for you (the chapter on interpersonal relations that we've been discussing).

Along the same lines: Although I was heavily into cognitive psychology as a graduate student, my main orientation has been as a developmental psychologist. So when I think about memory, I want to consider what memory is like for an infant, a toddler, a child, an adolescent, etc. I could be critical of much of cognitive psychology, for constructing models of adult cognition that pose tremendous problems when one tries to consider how such models might develop in an infant or child (and so are unlikely to really be valid models of human memory).

To get more specific: I've thought for many years that the emphasis in the discipline of psychology upon memory as primarily (or entirely) a matter of recall of information from the past could be very misplaced, in terms of our efforts to gain a comprehensive understanding of memory. Sure, for professors giving lectures and for students taking SAT's and other exams and for contestants on TV quiz shows, memory might be primarily a matter of recalling information from the past.

But for an infant or a toddler, memory may be related much more to actions in the present and the future. I doubt that, before kids begin school, parents devote very much time to training their kids' retrospective memory. OK, perhaps learn the alphabet or learn some songs or learn your address and phone number. In contrast, I believe that parents spend a LOT of time focusing on their kids' prospective remembering--remember to brush your teeth, take your teddy to bed, pick up your toys, say good night, wash your hands, say hello when you meet your grandparents, close the door when you go out, use a napkin, feed the cat, turn off the TV, look before crossing the street, flush the toilet, etc. Parents might not phrase these tasks as memory tasks (that is, they might not use the phrase "remember to"), but they are certainly giving their kids instructions about actions to perform in the future and the kids then have to remember to carry out these actions with minimal (at the beginning) or no (later) parental prompts in order to please their parents. In short, prospective remembering.

So rather than treat prospective memory as a topic of rather narrow importance, sort of on the side of the great wealth of traditional studies of memory as retrospection, I could suggest inverting the importance of these two. In my conception, it would be prospective memory--remembering for the sake of future action--that is foundational
in human memory, especially in the first half-dozen years or so. Only later, about the time that formal schooling (or apprenticeship, etc.) begins, around age 5 or 6, does retrospective remembering become important. So the conceptual question and the research questions would be to ask, how does the tremendous ability that adult humans have for retrospective recall grow out of the foundational ability for prospective memory?

Commenting on what you wrote below: So (continuing with what's above), I wouldn't say the difference is uncertainty or anxiety; I would say that prospective remembering is more interpersonal, social; and retrospective remembering is more individualistic, asocial. See my chapter for more.

Ray: Yes, I understand your orientation as a developmental psychologist, and I admit that I have only read a little bit about how children learn to talk about the past, present, and future. Actually the only bit I know is from reading a few papers or a book chapter by Katherine Nelson, where she wrote that an infant first gains a sense of self in the present and then later learns about the past and the future. I agree with you that retrospective memory in adults grows out of prospective memory. That makes sense intuitively, and I'll have to read some more about it and give it more
thought.

Thanks for the help. It's been very nice emailing with you! very nice emailing with you!