autonoesis

noun

au·​to·​no·​e·​sis ˌȯ-tə-nə-ˈwē-səs 

psychology

: awareness of one's own existence as an entity in time : autonoetic consciousness

Autonoesis refers to the kind of conscious awareness that characterizes conscious recollection of personal happenings.

—Endel Tulving, in The Missing Link in Cognition: Origins of Self-Reflective Consciousness, 2005

Word History

Etymology

auto- entry 1 + noesis (after autonoetic)

First Known Use

1985, in the meaning defined above

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