ABSTRACT
Autobiographical memory is the recollection of the personal events that one experiences throughout a lifetime. For researchers who want to explore autobiographical memory, one challenge is choosing a common event that has been experienced in a uniform manner by a large group of participants. Here, I propose that researchers should consider food memories as a potential avenue to explore autobiographical memory. In particular, I present studies that have examined food rejections (flavor-aversion learning; disgust-based rejections; danger-based rejections; and forced consumption) and comfort food acquisition. A review of the situational variables that are present during these highly specific episodes suggests they contain many elements (e.g., high emotionality) that increase the memorability of these episodes, and these elements are common across a number of individuals. Of the various food scenarios reviewed, I conclude that forced consumption episodes, in which an authority figure demands a child consume an edible against the child’s protests, may be the best avenue to examine common autobiographical memories across participants.
