Making You My Own: Three Critical Parameters for a Theory of Vicarious Memory

Reflecting on Pillemer et al.'s (2024) comprehensive and authoritative article, our commentary flags three critical issues we believe could benefit from further conceptual specification to refine vicarious memory theory. First, we take the stand that vicarious memory is distinct from autobiographical memory and needs to be more precisely defined in its own right. In service of a definition, we explore how the two systems are separate but may intersect through what we term vicarious reasoning. Second, the allowable sources of vicarious memories need to be determined. We suggest vicarious memories can only be gleaned from close others, those with whom we identify. Third, several adaptive outcomes of vicarious remembering were presented in the target article. We suggest that once vicarious memories are defined in a more constrained manner, including delineating allowable sources, a tight conceptual rationale can be made for a small set of particular outcomes.