Taxonomy of Autobiographical Memory Models

The present scoping review of cognitive models of autobiographical memory aims to develop a taxonomy to establish a comprehensive understanding of this process by incorporating various models and facilitate a more cohesive and unified understanding of autobiographical memory's underlying mechanisms and dynamics. The review was conducted through Covidence and included ProQuest, PubMed and Scopus databases. A total of 1136 studies were initially screened, 371 studies underwent full-text review, and 30 papers were identified as meeting the criteria for extraction and further analysis. A total of thirty models were extracted. After analysis, six main themes were identified and mapped: (1) models that represent neural mechanisms supporting autobiographical memory, (2) models that represent the functions of autobiographical memory from an ecological perspective, (3) models that represent the mechanisms of autobiographical memory, (4) models that represent a specific autobiographical memory phenomenon, (5) models that represent the role of the self in autobiographical memory, and finally (6) models that represent autobiographical memory as a form of narratives. Another thirty nested themes were also identified. A final mind map shows the relationships between themes and models. The developed taxonomy is a hierarchical structure that organizes models based on their primary themes. It will provide a tool that captures each model theme's fundamental characteristics, assumptions, and elements.