Organisation and retrieval: the generation of event clusters

The present research examined the nature of autobiographical memory event clusters. Specifically we were interested in the interplay between the content and organisation of autobiographical memory with retrieval in determining the similarity of event memories across time. Using an event cueing procedure, clusters of related event memories were generated. Participants sorted these events into meaningful groups after a delay of several weeks. The results suggest that participants' ability to perform this sorting task is dependent on their ability to reinstate the retrieval context. Further our results suggest that event clusters are chains of related event memories as opposed to clusters of interrelated event memories.     

Cross-modal source monitoring confusions between perceived and imagined events

Two experiments tested the prediction based on the source monitoring framework that imagination is most likely to lead to false memories when related perceived events have occurred. Consistent with this, people were more likely to falsely remember seeing events when the events had been both imagined as seen and actually heard than when they were just heard, just visually imagined, or imagined both visually and auditorily. Furthermore, when people considered potential sources for memories or more carefully evaluated features of remembered events, source errors were reduced. On average, misattributed ("false") memories differed in phenomenal qualities from true memories. Taken together, these findings show that as different qualities of mental experience flexibly enter into source attributions, qualities derived from related perceptual events are particularly likely to lead to false claims that imagined events were seen, even when the event involves a primary modality (auditory) different from the target event (visual).     

Similarities within event clusters in autobiographical memory

The organization of autobiographical memory is critical for both theory and application in many areas of psychology. Several theories of autobiographical memory state that memories are nested within higher‐order cognitive structures. A procedure developed by Brown and Schopflocher is extended and used to explore similarities of various characteristics within these structures, which they call ‘event clusters’. This phrase, event cluster, is used to describe events which cue one another. The purpose of this paper is to explore the similarities of events within the same cluster. We find that memories within a cluster are more likely to be similar with respect to clarity, emotion, importance, happiness and the estimated date in which they occurred compared with events from other clusters. Further, having nearly 1900 memories allows hypotheses about the relationships among clarity, emotion and importance to be examined in a way that is not possible with many other autobiographical data sets. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Strategies for verifying false autobiographical memories

This study examined the types of strategies people use to verify putative childhood memories and the degree to which their preferred strategies are restricted in typical memory implantation studies. We asked subjects to describe a situation in which they recalled a false childhood experience and a hypothetical situation in which they pretended to have developed a false memory after taking part in a memory implantation study. We also asked them how they did (or would) determine the source of the event. We found that subjects relied primarily on other people and cognitive strategies to verify their experiences. These results suggest that laboratory situations cultivate false memories in part because they prevent people from talking to others about the false event, which causes them to rely on less optimal strategies.     

Contribution of past and future self-defining event networks to personal identity

Personal identity is nourished by memories of significant past experiences and by the imagination of meaningful events that one anticipates to happen in the future. The organisation of such self-defining memories and prospective thoughts in the cognitive system has received little empirical attention, however. In the present study, our aims were to investigate to what extent self-defining memories and future projections are organised in networks of related events, and to determine the nature of the connections linking these events. Our results reveal the existence of self-defining event networks, composed of both memories and future events of similar centrality for identity and characterised by similar identity motives. These self-defining networks expressed a strong internal coherence and frequently organised events in meaningful themes and sequences (i.e., event clusters). Finally, we found that the satisfaction of identity motives in represented events and the presence of clustering across events both contributed to increase in the perceived centrality of events for the sense of identity. Overall, these findings suggest that personal identity is not only nourished by representations of significant past and future events, but also depends on the formation of coherent networks of related events that provide an overarching meaning to specific life experiences.     

Priming voluntary autobiographical memories: Implications for the organisation of autobiographical memory and voluntary recall processes

The goal of this study was to show that voluntary autobiographical memories could be primed by the prior activation of autobiographical memories. Three experiments demonstrated voluntary memory priming with three different approaches. In Experiment 1 primed participants were asked to recall memories from their elementary school years. In a subsequent memory task primed participants were asked to recall memories from any time period, and they produced significantly more memories from their elementary school years than unprimed participants. In Experiment 2 primed participants were asked to recall what they were doing when they had heard various news events occurring between 1998 and 2005. Subsequently these participants produced significantly more memories from this time period than unprimed participants. In Experiment 3 primed participants were asked to recall memories from their teenage years. Subsequently these participants were able to recall more memories from ages 13–15 than unprimed participants, where both had only 1 second to produce a memory. We argue that the results support the notion that episodic memories can activate one another and that some of them are organised according to lifetime periods. We further argue that the results have implications for the reminiscence bump and voluntary recall of the past.     

Taking care of business? Grateful processing of unpleasant memories

In this study we investigated the impact of grateful processing on bringing closure to unpleasant emotional memories. After recalling an open memory, participants were randomly assigned to one of three writing conditions. For three sessions, participants wrote about neutral topics, the unpleasant event itself, or positive consequences from the event from their open memory that they felt they could now be grateful for. Results showed a significant effect of writing condition, and the pattern of means were as predicted: those in the grateful condition showed more memory closure, less unpleasant emotional impact, and less intrusiveness of the open memory than the other writing conditions. Grateful reappraisal of unpleasant memories may help individuals emotionally process these events, thus bringing emotional closure to these incidents. This might be one reason that grateful people tend to be happy people.     

Reasons for withdrawing belief in vivid autobiographical memories

Previous studies have shown that many people hold personal memories for events that they no longer believe occurred. This study examines the reasons that people provide for choosing to reduce autobiographical belief in vividly recollected autobiographical memories. A body of non-believed memories provided by 374 individuals was reviewed to develop a qualitatively derived categorisation system. The final scheme consisted of 8 major categories (in descending order of mention): social feedback, event plausibility, alternative attributions, general memory beliefs, internal event features, consistency with external evidence, views of self/others, personal motivation and numerous sub-categories. Independent raters coded the reports and judged the primary reason that each person provided for withdrawing belief. The nature of each category, frequency of category endorsement, category overlap and phenomenological ratings are presented, following which links to related literature and implications are discussed. This study documents that a wide variety of recollective and non-recollective sources of information influence decision-making about the occurrence of autobiographical events.     

Evidence for the efficacy of the MORI technique: Viewers do not notice or implicitly remember details from the alternate movie version

The MORI technique provides a unique way to research social influences on memory. The technique allows people to watch different movies on the same screen at the same time without realizing that each of them sees something different. As a result, researchers can create a situation in which people feel as though they share an experience, but systematic differences are introduced into their memories, and the effect of those differences can be tracked through a discussion. Despite its methodological advances, the MORI technique has been met with criticism, mostly because reviewers are worried that the MORI technique might not completely block the alternate movie version from view, leading people in these studies to see their partner’s version of the movie as well as their own. We addressed these concerns in two experiments. We found no evidence that subjects noticed the alternate movie version while watching a movie via the MORI technique (Experiment 1) and no evidence that subjects remembered details from the alternate movie version (Experiment 2). Taken together, the results provide support for the MORI technique as a valuable research tool.     

Unexpected Positive Events Do Not Result in Flashbulb Memories

The study of flashbulb memories has typically been confined to negative events such as the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. Previous studies that investigated the role of affect on memory formation have produced conflicting results, making it difficult to ascertain the properties of positive flashbulb memories. In the current study, we employ previously established methods to investigate flashbulb memory formation for the assassination of Osama bin Laden. This resonated as a highly positive event for many Americans evidenced by the thousands of people flooding the streets of Washington, D.C., and New York City to celebrate. Results confirm the fading of memory details over time and further suggest that positive events do not result in the heightened vividness and confidence seen in negatively valenced flashbulb memories. We argue that these findings are additional evidence against a special memory mechanism in flashbulb memory formation. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Effect of Social Disclosure on the Intensity of Affect Provoked by Autobiographical Memories

Affect associated with negative autobiographical memories fades faster over time than affect associated with positive autobiographical memories (the fading affect bias). Data described in the present article suggest that this bias is observed when people use their own words to describe both the emotions that they originally felt in response to events in their lives and the emotions that they feel when they recall those events. The data also suggest that the fading affect bias is not a consequence of distortion in memory for the emotions experienced at event occurrence, but instead reflects current affective responses to memories for those events. Moreover, this bias has a social component. Frequently disclosed memories evince a stronger fading affect bias than less frequently disclosed memories. Memories disclosed to many types of people evince a stronger fading affect bias than memories disclosed to few types of people. Finally, the relation between social disclosure and fading affect appears to be causal: the results of an experiment demonstrate that social disclosure decreases the fading of pleasant affect and increases the fading of unpleasant affect associated with autobiographical memories.     

Accessibility and characteristics of memories of the future

Recent research suggests that some imagined future events are encoded in memory, leading to the formation of “memories of the future”. However, questions remain regarding the exact components of future event simulations that are encoded and the factors that determine their accessibility. To address these questions, the present study investigated memory for previously imagined future events using both free and cued recall tasks. The results showed that most future event simulations were successfully encoded and remained available in memory after a one week delay, but only some of them were readily accessible, whereas others could only be accessed when relevant cues were provided. Persons and locations were particularly well remembered, suggesting that these components are central to the simulation and memorisation of future events. We also found that memory for future event simulations was related to the clarity and familiarity of represented persons, the subjective feelings of pre-experience and mental time travel, the importance of imagined events to personal goals, and their emotional intensity during the initial simulation phase. Taken together, these findings expand our understanding of the formation, accessibility, and characteristics of memories of the future.     

Flashbulb memories in social groups: A comparative test–retest study of the memory of French President Mitterrand's death in a French and a Belgian group

Flashbulb memories are vivid and long-lasting memories for the reception context of an important public event (Brown & Kulik, 1977). They are assumed to be triggered by emotional factors (i.e., intensity of emotional feeling, appraisal of the original event) and by social factors (i.e., social sharing of the news, following media debate about the event). The present study investigated the memory for the death of the former President of France F. Mitterrand in two social groups, i.e., French and Belgian people. This study tests whether the flashbulb memory attributes, the memory for the original event, and the impact of the emotional and social determinants of flashbulb memory differed across groups. The results indicated that the flashbulb memory for Mitterrand's death is affected by group provenance, as French people showed higher levels of recall for the flashbulb memory attributes and their determinants than Belgian people. Time impaired recollections in both groups, so that flashbulb memories appear prone to decay and share the same destiny as ordinary memories. The theoretical construct of concern - as the most basic antecedent of emotional experiences and its related appraisal (Frijda, 1994) - is discussed in order to explain the differences in memory of the two social groups.     

Flashbulb memories in social groups: a comparative test-retest study of the memory of French President Mitterrand's death in a French and a Belgian group

Flashbulb memories are vivid and long-lasting memories for the reception context of an important public event (Brown & Kulik, 1977). They are assumed to be triggered by emotional factors (i.e., intensity of emotional feeling, appraisal of the original event) and by social factors (i.e., social sharing of the news, following media debate about the event). The present study investigated the memory for the death of the former President of France F. Mitterrand in two social groups, i.e., French and Belgian people. This study tests whether the flashbulb memory attributes, the memory for the original event, and the impact of the emotional and social determinants of flashbulb memory differed across groups. The results indicated that the flashbulb memory for Mitterrand's death is affected by group provenance, as French people showed higher levels of recall for the flashbulb memory attributes and their determinants than Belgian people. Time impaired recollections in both groups, so that flashbulb memories appear prone to decay and share the same destiny as ordinary memories. The theoretical construct of concern--as the most basic antecedent of emotional experiences and its related appraisal (Frijda, 1994)--is discussed in order to explain the differences in memory of the two social groups.     

Revisiting the past and back to the future: memory systems and the linguistic representation of social events.

Five studies were conducted to investigate the relationship between how people communicate about social events and how representations of these events are stored in memory. It was hypothesized that more distant events in memory would be described with more abstract linguistic predicates, and recent events with more concrete language. The 1st study supported this hypothesis. The 2nd and 3rd experiments demonstrated that abstract predicates used as prompts elicit memories that are significantly more removed in time than concrete predicates. Two final experiments showed that these outcomes are not merely a function of the type of semantic cue but an interaction between memory and preferential predicate use. The findings illustrate a link between memory and communicative behavior of a type that has not been previously studied. The results are discussed in terms of a recent, well-supported model of 2 separate fast-learning and slow-learning memory systems.     

Retrieval‐induced forgetting of autobiographical memory details

Several studies suggest that intrusive and overgeneral autobiographical memory are correlated. Thus, paradoxically, in some patients a hyperaccessibility of memory for one (series of) event(s) goes hand‐in‐hand with a scarcity of memories for other personal experiences. This clinical observation is reminiscent of the laboratory phenomenon of retrieval‐induced forgetting (RIF). This refers to the finding that repeatedly recalling some experimental stimuli impairs subsequent recall of related (i.e., tied to the same retrieval cue) stimuli. RIF of emotional autobiographical memories might provide an experimental model for the clinical memory phenomena in question. The present paper reports two experiments that explored the merits of applying the retrieval practice paradigm to relatively broad categories of autobiographical memories. Both studies found a significant RIF effect in that practised memories were recalled better than unrelated unpractised (baseline) memories. In addition, unpractised memories that were related to the practised memories were recalled more poorly than baseline memories. Implications of these findings for modelling the co‐occurrence of intrusive and overgeneral memories are discussed.     

Nonbelieved memories in middle-aged and older people

Previous studies have reported that young participants typically date events that they remember, but no longer believe they experienced, to the period of childhood. The present study investigated whether participants aged between 40 and 79 years dated events related to relinquished memories to the period of childhood, as do younger people, or whether they dated such events to a period later in life. The study also compared believed and nonbelieved memories with respect to memory perspective (1st vs 3rd person perspective). Results indicated that the majority of middle-aged and older people dated nonbelieved memories to the period of childhood (median age = 8 years). No correlation was found between the participants’ current age and their age at the time the nonbelieved event occurred. In addition, results showed that believed memories were more likely to be retrieved from a 1st person perspective than were nonbelieved memories.     

Episodic recollection in animals: “If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck…”

In humans, episodic memory is most commonly defined as the subjective experience of recollection, presenting a major challenge to the identification of episodic memory in animals. Here we take the position that episodic memory also has several other distinctive qualities that can be assessed objectively in animals, as well as humans, and the examination of these properties provides insights into underlying mechanisms of episodic memory. We focus on recent evidence accumulated in this laboratory indicating that recognition in rats involves a threshold retrieval process, similar to that observed in human episodic recall. Also, rats can remember the temporal order of unique events, characteristic of the replay of vivid episodic memories in humans. Furthermore, rats combine elements of “when” and “where” events occur, as well as the flow of events within a memory, to distinguish memories that share overlapping features, also characteristic of human episodic memory. Finally, all of these capacities are dependent on the hippocampus, which also plays a critical role in human episodic memory. This combination of findings strongly suggests that animals have the same fundamental information processing functions that underlie episodic recall in humans.