ABSTRACT
It may at first seem contradictory, but neuroscientific methods on their own cannot distinguish autobiographical memory from episodic memory1 at all, whereas results from developmental psychology even demonstrate that autobiographical memory does not develop until after episodic memory has. Although this finding may appear somewhat contradictory, it can be explained by the fact that the neural substrate for episodic memory is in itself fully capable of developing the autobiographical component: at least, this is so if a coevolutionary developmental environment is in force that integrates the different demands of sociality and individuality, and of ontogenetic and phylogenetic development, so that they all function in a coordinated way. When a species is in principle capable of making use of such a developmental environment, it needs a relay station that makes its members “sociable” and ready for associating with expanding and diversifying social groups. The autobiographical memory is just such a relay, a psychosocial force that guarantees subjective coherency and continuity although the social environments and their demands on the individual fluctuate. It is precisely this function as a relay station that explains why we have evidence of historically different levels of autobiographical functioning as well as why, looking at different intercultural effects, we find that the origin of a continuous self-identity is initiated at widely different age groups. Autobiographical memory is therefore not a whole new additional memory system, but a biopsychosocial instance that represents the relay station between the individual and the environment, between the subject and culture.
