An empirical analysis of lay conceptions of memory domains

Although experts consider memory in terms of different domains (e.g., short-term memory, spatial memory), little is known about the way in which lay people conceive memory domains. Study 1 addressed this issue by asking 79 French lay people to group together 125 memory situations (previously generated by lay people) according to their similarity. Study 2 used a similar procedure with 99 American lay people and 40 different memory situations. Hierarchical cluster analyses revealed five main memory domains common to the two studies: learn a set of things and recall them later, episodic and detailed memory, autobiographical memory, memory for day-to-day living, and failure to remember. Study 1 revealed a further domain: memory for intellectual and exact knowledge. Identifying these shared lay conceptions of memory provides insights into how lay people communicate about memory and will enable the construction of memory self-evaluation measures that are more representative of all memory domains