Involuntary autobiographical memories are memories of personal experiences that pop into mind without a conscious attempt at their retrieval. This study investigated individual differences in the number of involuntary autobiographical memories, and explored the relationship between the frequency of occurrence in involuntary autobiographical memory and cognitive failures in everyday memory, as indexed by metamemory questionnaires. A total of 24 undergraduate students reported involuntary autobiographical memories in controlled field interviews, and completed the Everyday Memory Questionnaire and the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire. The results showed that, despite controlled conditions, considerable individual differences were observed in the number of involuntary autobiographical memories reported while walking along a prescribed route on the campus, and that reported memories were predominantly serving self function. In addition, the number of involuntary autobiographical memories was positively related to cognitive failures in everyday memory: participants who acknowledged more problems in everyday memory had a higher frequency of involuntary memories. The implications of these results are discussed in terms of the complementary function of involuntary autobiographical memory in everyday life.

This study investigated the functions of involuntary memory, which is memory of personal experience that pops into mind without a conscious attempt at retrieval. Thirteen undergraduates recorded the contents of their involuntary memories and the circumstances surrounding their occurrence, such as the participant's activity. In addition, the participants described the effect of the involuntary memory on their thought and action in that situation. Analysis of the data showed that the dominant function of involuntary memory was self-confirmation. The subsets of this function were: (a) recognition of one's existence in the past, (b) recognition of one's own psychological traits in the past, (c) discovering new traits of oneself through checking one's personal past, (d) understanding the change of one's traits, and (e) recognizing the consistency of one's traits. These results indicate that one of the main functions of involuntary autobiographical memory may be to provide a sense of self-continuity.

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Clinical, laboratory and pathologic findings from a case of IgA (λ‐type) secreting extramedullary plasmacytoma of the skin are presented. The tumors were found first in the skin of the right upper extremity and then in the left maxillary sinus one year later. Materials were examined by peroxidase‐anti peroxidase method (PAP method) and the immunofluorescence method.

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