Event clusters: An organization of personal events in autobiographical memory

The present study employed a method called event cuing to investigate the organization of autobiographical memory. The unique feature of this method is the use of event descriptions as retrieval cues. Participants first recalled a set of personal events. Next, they respond ed to each of these cuing events by retrieving a second related personal event (the cued event). Subsequently, relations between cued and cuing events were coded by the participants, and all events were dared and rated for importance. Results indicate that memorable personal events, regardless of age or importance, are often embedded in event clusters; that events organized by these clusters, like episodes in a story, are often causally related, temporally proximate, and similar in content; and that narrative processes may not be necessary for the formation of event clusters, though subsequent narration may affect their contents and structure.