Involuntary memory

A famous example of involuntary memory is when, in his book In Search of Lost Time, Marcel Proust is reminded of his childhood by the taste of a madeleine cake dunked in tea.

Involuntary memory, also known as involuntary explicit memory, involuntary conscious memory, involuntary aware memory, madeleine moment, mind pops[1] and most commonly, involuntary autobiographical memory, is a sub-component of memory that occurs when cues encountered in everyday life evoke recollections of the past without conscious effort. Voluntary memory, its opposite, is characterized by a deliberate effort to recall the past.

  1. ^ Elua, Ia; Laws, Keith R.; Kvavilashvili, Lia (2012). "From mind-pops to hallucinations? A study of involuntary semantic memories in schizophrenia". Psychiatry Research. 196 (2–3). Elsevier BV: 165–170. doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2011.11.026. hdl:2299/8802. ISSN 0165-1781. PMID 22424894. S2CID 7346598.