The Emergent Structure of Memory Phenomenology Depends on Whether Memories Are More Episodic or Semantic

Phenomenological characteristics are central to theoretical distinctions among modern memory constructs. The scene construction framework proposes that episodic remembering involves the construction of coherent scenes, such that the structure of phenomenology may reflect the engagement of the hippocampus and related regions during recall. However, most phenomenology research relies on instruments with content and scoring schemes that embed theoretical assumptions into their measurements. Here, we explored whether phenomenological characteristics emerge from self-reported memory experiences as anticipated by episodic memory theory. We solicited memories from a large online sample, following each response with a novel questionnaire designed to evaluate the phenomenology of individual memories. We used folded bottom-up factor analyses to examine and validate the global latent factor structure of participants’ memory experiences. Consistent with Tulving’s declarative memory framework, our analyses produced five stable dimensions: imagery, autonoetic consciousness, mental time travel, relational memory, and semantic memory. In order, these dimensions reflect multi-modal perceptual reexperiencing, personal meaning, sense of reliving, detailed spatiotemporal context, and conscious use of semantic knowledge during recall. The semantic memory dimension has no clear predecessor, suggesting the strategic use of general knowledge during recall is a distinct and previously uncharacterized aspect of remembering. This factor structure generalized across memories elicited by recent and remote episodic prompts. However, distinct versions of mental time travel and relational memory emerged in response to the semantic prompt, suggesting these dimensions of memory are context-sensitive rather than fixed. While our findings validate the link between episodic memory and its theorized phenomenological elements, they also invite broader investigation of how phenomenology may vary across different classes of memory.