Collaborative Remembering and Collective Memory

Abstract

Abstract A trip down the memory lane is often a social experience. To understand how recalling the past with others shapes one’s memory, it is important to appreciate the reciprocal influences between the collective and the individual. This chapter focuses on cognitive research that examines individual and collective memories that develop in a social context. The studies reviewed in the chapter are typically experimental in nature, although some studies involved other research techniques such as surveys. The theoretical explanations reviewed identify cognitive mechanisms that operate when people engage in collaborative remembering. A confluence of these cognitive mechanisms not only influences the group memory product but also produces post-collaborative changes in what people remember and how they organize these memories. The chapter also discusses research on collaborative remembering across the life span, collaborative memory for emotional information, and the social transmission of false memories. Although collaborative memory studies have used mainly small groups, the chapter also includes recent research that uses larger groups and social networks to understand social transmission of memory. Finally, the chapter focuses on the nature of collective memory. Although collective memory has been a topic of long-held interest in sociology, anthropology, and history, recent research has brought to light psychological perspectives. In the context of studying the cognitive bases of social remembering, the chapter discusses experimental studies that are particularly relevant for understanding the relationship between collaborative remembering and collective memory.