Autobiographical memory in natural discourse

This paper discusses the methodological issues involved in studying autobiographical memory in natural discourse. A method is developed herein that is sufficiently versatile to be used to probe various other research questions. The analysis of four equal‐length transcripts using this method demonstrates that autobiographical memory units can be reliably distinguished from other personal memory and non‐memory idea units. Further, the reliability of subdividing the autobiographical memories into classes is also shown. There is a discussion of how this type of work relates to relevant research in autobiographical memory. The potential application of these results is also described.