Overgeneral memory (OGM), or reduced autobiographical memory specificity, refers to a person’s difficulty in recalling specific autobiographical memories—memories regarding facts or episodes in a person’s life—when presented with a cue. For example, if given the cue word happy, a specific (and correct) response to this cue could be “Last Monday when I went to a nice dinner party,” because this refers to one particular and circumscribed event that lies in the past. Contrarily, an overgeneral (not correct) response would be “Every evening when I take a walk in the park,” because this refers to a summary of several past events that fall into one category rather than to a single event.

OGM was first observed by J. Mark G. Williams and Keith Broadbent in the 1980s. ...