Unraveling the role of retrieval deficits in autobiographical memory impairment in schizophrenia: A comparison of involuntary and voluntary autobiographical memories

Patients with schizophrenia show severe autobiographical memory impairment, thought to reflect retrieval deficits caused by executive dysfunction. However, prior research has focused exclusively on strategic (voluntary) retrieval, and ignored involuntary resulting from automatic associative processes, involving minimal cognitive control. We report two studies patients diagnosed (Ns = 40 50 respectively) comparing their impairment in versus voluntary memory. use different methodologies, not previously used research: a naturalistic study real-life data an experimental setup. Both consistently showed that memories were similarly impaired schizophrenia. The absence of interaction effects between group suggests schizophrenic did benefit tasks little effort. These findings suggest are problems self-initiated but instead likely encoding or binding deficits.