Autobiographical Memory Specificity and Psychopathology : A Special Issue of Cognition and Emotion

It has been repeatedly demonstrated that depression and reported history of trauma are associated with a difficulty in retrieving specific autobiographical memories, a phenomenon called overgeneral memory (Williams & Broadbent, 1986). Over the past twenty years there has been a stimulating progression in knowledge in this field, and it is clear that the topic has a considerable level of importance, both from a theoretical and clinical perspective. This Special Issue is intended to further advance this field which lies at the heart of the cognition-emotion interface. Papers published in this Issue address key issues relating to the underlying mechanisms and aetiology of overgeneral autobiographical memory, providing a state-of-the-art and pushing the field forward.