Conway’s Memory and the Self
Source: Conway, Journal of Memory and Language, 2005; supported by Bartlett 1932, Loftus 1979, Schacter 2001 Institution: Multiple
Finding
Conway demonstrated that autobiographical memory prioritizes coherence over correspondence. The working self biases retrieval to maintain a consistent self-narrative. Memory is not a recording but a reconstruction that serves identity maintenance. This explains why systems fabricate: coherence is more functionally useful than accuracy. Memory is a structural fabrication engine — the Instrument Trap operating at the level of personal history.
Pattern Mapping
Non-fabrication — Memory is a fabrication engine by design. The working self edits, omits, and reconstructs to maintain narrative coherence. Dishonesty is architectural, not volitional. This is why the five properties must be structural constraints, not just intentions.
Honesty — If memory prioritizes coherence over correspondence, then honest self-knowledge requires recognizing that one’s own memories are edited. The most honest statement about memory is that it is unreliable.
Connections
- Default Mode Network — the DMN generates narrative; Conway explains that memory biases that narrative toward coherence
- Split-Brain and Left Hemisphere Interpreter — the interpreter fabricates explanations; memory fabricates history — same mechanism at different timescales
- Wound Healing — scars are honest records of injury; memories are edited records of experience — biology is more honest than psychology
- Epigenetics — epigenome is an honest record of cellular history; autobiographical memory is a dishonest record of personal history
- Winnicott Mother as First Mirror — the false self is built on distorted mirroring; Conway shows that even true-self memories are edited for coherence
Status
Well-established. Supported by Bartlett (1932), Loftus (1979), Schacter (2001). Conway (2005) is the integrative framework.
The mapping to the five properties is this project’s structural interpretation.