Perspectives on Autobiographical Memory Development

Conference on Perspectives on Autobiographical Memory Development

When: June 16-17 2011

Where: Aarhus, Denmark

Center for Autobiographical Memory Research, Aarhus University

It is a great pleasure for the Center on Autobiographical Memory Research at Aarhus University to invite you to participate in the conference on Perspectives on Autobiographical Memory Development, which takes place in Aarhus, Denmark.

Over the last 10-15 years, the interest in autobiographical memory research has been dramatically increasing. From being a somewhat exotic field outside of mainstream psychology, it is now widely recognized as an important area of memory research. While the majority of the research conducted on autobiographical memory has been with adults, it is important to carefully consider the origin and emergence of the different abilities and their complicated interactions paving the way for full blown autobiographical memories. The development of autobiographical memory is not only a truly fascinating area of research in its own right; it is also mandatory when attempting to understand autobiographical memories as they appear in adults. As indicated by the title – Perspectives on Autobiographical Memory Development – the upcoming conference will attempt to address exactly such developmental aspects. The first word in the title ‘perspectives’ should be taken seriously though: we would like to keep the approach to the development of autobiographical memories fairly broad by having an open-minded attitude towards related areas rather than a restricted and excluding one. We believe that this approach is reflected in the line of outstanding keynote speakers.

We invite all researchers in the field to submit poster presentations describing some of their most recent and exciting findings concerning perspectives on autobiographical memory development.

SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMME

The aim of the conference is to present different perspectives on the development of autobiographical memory. We would like to present an interesting blend of, on the one hand, ‘classical’ autobiographical memory research from a developmental perspective, and, on the other hand, stimulating research from related areas of research that may not be classified as autobiographical memory research, but nevertheless are absolutely central for the understanding of key issues in autobiographical memory development. Thus, besides outstanding research on event memory in infants and children we have invited excellent keynote addresses on issues like event segmentation, understanding of time, and mental time travel from a developmental perspective. We believe that this blend of perspectives will be truly stimulating for anyone interested in understanding how autobiographical memory develops from infancy through adulthood. In this spirit we are very proud to present the following keynote speakers:

· Patricia Bauer, Emory University

· Robyn Fivush, Emory University

· William J. Friedman, Oberlin College

· Thomas Suddendorf, University of Queensland

· Jeffrey Zacks, Washington University

An important part of the scientific programme consists of invited keynote addresses and discussions. However, it is equally important to stimulate discussion in the field and provide a forum for the presentation of new ideas, studies and projects.

We therefore invite all researchers in the field to submit poster presentations describing some of their most recent and exciting findings concerning perspectives on autobiographical memory development. The posters will be given good attention. We will schedule poster sessions in the middle of each of the two days with no competing sessions.

SUBMISSION OF ABSTRACTS

We welcome submissions of abstracts for poster presentation at the conference. Notification whether the abstract is accepted will be sent to the presenting author no later than 15 March, 2011. All accepted abstracts can ONLY be selected for poster presentation. Only on-line submission is possible. Abstracts sent by fax or paper-copies will not be considered. Please read the guidelines carefully before submission. Deadline for submission of abstracts is 15 February, 2011. Abstracts should be sent as an attachment to the following email address: dev_am@psy.au.dk

GUIDELINES FOR ABSTRACTS

1. Abstract must be written in clear and concise English.

2. Title should contain no more than 150 characters including space (about 20 words). The abstract text should contain no more than 150 words.

3. The abstract should include title, authors, contact information (i.e. email address to which notification of acceptance should be sent) and abstract text.

4. Single space all text. Do not leave blank lines. Abbreviations, ( in parentheses after the first full use of the word), should be used for common terms only. Write numbers as numerals rather than words.

5. The abstract will appear exactly as typed. Therefore, any errors in spelling, grammar or scientific facts will be reproduced as you type them.

6. Incomplete or incorrectly submitted abstracts will be returned to the author and must be resubmitted before deadline to be considered for presentation.

7. Please note that by submitting your abstract to this conference, you agree that the abstract will be printed in the abstract book as well as on the conference website.