Clinical Psychology Review, Vol. 18, No. 8, pp. 933–947, 1998 Copyright © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd Printed in the USA. All rights reserved 0272-7358/98/$–see front matter PII S0272-7358(98)00041-5 933 ERRORS IN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMORY Ira E. Hyman, Jr. Western Washington University Elizabeth F. Loftus University of Washington ABSTRACT. Memory is always constructive. People create the past based on the information that remains in memory, their general knowledge, and the social demands of the retrieval situa- tion. Thus, memories will often contain some small errors and occasionally some large errors. In this article, we describe several different types of memory errors and consider how these errors may influence therapy. © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd IN HIS STORY “Funes, The Memorious,” Jorge Borges (1967) described a fictional man with complete and accurate memory. Funes had perfect memory for everything that he had read, seen, heard, and done. He could describe exactly when something happened, what it was, and what everyone and everything looked like. He could read a book once and remember the entire book. He could use his memory skills to learn a new language. The story is interesting because we recognize that this would be un- usual—our memories are not perfect. We wish we could read a book once and re- member all the content. We would like to always remember a person’s name and when and where we met them. We would like to never need reminding to do some- thing after once being asked to do it. Unfortunately, we forget things and some of the things we remember are wrong. Memory is a constructive activity. Unlike Borges’s fictional character, people do not retrieve a complete and accurate record of a personal experience. Instead people construct a version of the past based on remaining memories, general schematic knowledge, and the demands of the remembering context. Thus memories will often include errors. In many contexts these errors are not important: the goal may not be to remember accurately, but rather to define one’s self, tell an entertaining story, or fit in with a group (Hyman, in press). Memory errors, however, can lead to problems in certain settings, including those involving therapy. Correspondence should be addressed to Ira E. Hyman, Jr., Psychology Department, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225; E-mail: hyman@cc.wwu.edu