Memory in the real world is often known as everyday memory and is concerned with the way memory is used as people go about their daily lives. Among the characteristic features of everyday memory research is its emphasis on the functional aspects of memory, that is, on what memory is for. Memory is viewed as part of a repertoire of behaviour designed to ful®l speci®c goals. For example, autobiographical memory functions to build and maintain personal identity and self-concept; prospective memory functions to enable an individual to carry out plans and intentions; spatial memory functions so that an individual can navigate in the environment, and so on. Bruce (1985) stated that ecological memory research must ask how memory operates in everyday life, identifying causes and processes; what functions it serves; and why it has evolved both ontogenetically and evolutionarily in this way.