You are invited to this week’s special talk organized by the Department of Psychology.
Everyone is welcome to attend!
From Triggers to Awareness: Dimensions of Autobiographical Memory Retrieval
Speaker: Krystian Barzykowski is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland
Date: . 30.01.2026, Friday
Time: 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM
Room: A 130 (FEASS Building)
Abstract:
Autobiographical memory research has long focused on what is remembered, often overlooking how memories come to mind. This talk addresses this gap by examining the cognitive processes and phenomenology through which autobiographical memories enter conscious awareness. Drawing on research on retrieval intentionality, attentional dynamics, and memory awareness, I introduce the threshold account, which proposes that memories must reach a critical activation level to become conscious. I outline key retrieval modes—voluntary versus involuntary and direct versus generative—and show how they jointly shape the dynamics of remembering. Adopting a dimensional approach to retrieval, I demonstrate how this framework clarifies phenomena such as déjà vu and sheds new light on the mechanisms underlying recovered memories. By integrating evidence across experimental and phenomenological research, the talk offers a refined, process-based perspective on autobiographical memory retrieval and highlights promising directions for future research.
Biography:
Krystian Barzykowski, PhD, DSc, is an Associate Professor and full faculty member at the Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland, where he also leads the Applied Memory Research Laboratory. His research lies in cognitive experimental psychology, with a particular focus on spontaneous cognition, memory processes, and autobiographical memory, including both involuntary and voluntary retrieval, as well as cross-cultural psychology. Since September 2024, he has been a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at Université Grenoble Alpes, working with Prof. Chris Moulin on the project SpontaneousPAST: Using Déjà Vu to Better Understand Spontaneous Retrieval in Human Memory.
We hope to see you there! Department of Psychology