Early Memories as Expressions of Relationship Paradigms: A Preliminary Investigation

Earliest childhood memories (EMs) have been utilized as expressions of relationship paradigms, but few empirical studies have been conducted. This study outlines the construction and development of an EM relationship scoring system and scale utilizing nonclinical and clinical samples. It was hypothesized that relationship episodes could be reliably coded using EMs and that they would demonstrate convergent validity with measures of attachment style (Separation-Individuation Test of Adolescence), mood (Profile of Mood States), and clinical symptomatology (Symptom Checklist 90-Revised [SCL-90-R] and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory [MMPI]). The hypotheses received broad support. Findings indicate that relationship episodes may be reliably coded from EMs. Associations between individual EM variables, the EM relationship scale, and objective measures suggest that the quality of relationships expressed in EMs is associated with degree of general maladjustment. Suggestions for further research are discussed.     

Prediction of locus of control stance from the earliest childhood memory

The study was designed to test whether data from the earliest childhood memory (EM) could predict a Rotter internal vs external locus of control stance. Main Study subjects were 215 undergraduates from introductory psychology classes. Those EMs which could be reliably scored and coded for control stance--153 of the 215 Main Study protocols--were examined for success at predicting Rotter control stance. A total of 127 of 153 control predictions were correct, which yielded a Chi Square of 67.51, p < .0005 for a 2 x 2 table. Further, all 5 EM content hypotheses, which were based on groupings of the 54 Pilot Study codes, yielded results significant at p < .05. These results were discussed as supporting the validity of EMs to predict control stance and as contributing to an understanding of the dynamic basis for and maintenance of a belief in internal vs external control.     

Early Memories,Normal Personality Variation,and Coping

Relationships between earliest childhood memories (EMs)and normal-range personality traits and coping variables were assessed with data provided by 134 undergraduates. Subjects completed an EM questionnaire, the NEO Personality Inventory-Revised (Costa & McCrae, 1992), and the Constructive Thinking inventory (Epstein, 1992; Epstein & Meier, 1989). EMs were scored via the Early Memory Relationship Scoring System (EMRSS; Acklin, Bibb, Boyer, & Jain, 1991) and the Transparent Bipolar Inventory (Goldberg, 1992). Factor analytic results supported the EM Relationship scale of the EMRSS. Correlational analyses suggested that the EM Relationship scale was inversely related to negative expectations of the future and dichotomous thinking, but unrelated to general neuroticism and coping ability in this nonclinical sample. The EM protagonist's level of activity was associated with subjects' general coping ability, the ability to avoid emotional upset, and inversely related to general neuroticism.     

The impact of eye movements on a verbal creativity task

Bilateral eye movements (EMs) have been shown to induce cognitive enhancements for episodic memory, attention, and divergent thinking. Increased interhemispheric interaction has been suggested as a possible mechanism behind the EM effect, but other theories, including an increase in attentional control following EMs have also been proposed. The present research explored whether the bilateral EM effect could be extended to a creativity task that draws heavily on convergent thinking. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four EM conditions (bilateral, centre control, right-centre, or left-centre) and were presented with compound remote associate problems. After 7 s, participants were asked to make a solution/non-solution judgement to a target word presented in the left or right visual field. Bilateral and right-centre EM conditions exhibited enhanced performance on the task, with the bilateral condition demonstrating the best performance for solution targets and the right-centre condition presenting the best performance for non-solution targets. The implications of these findings are discussed in light of the neural components of creativity and theories surrounding the effects of EMs on cognition.     

Distinguishing child diagnostic types with early memories

The present study attempts to correct design weaknesses in earlier studies which assessed the use of early memories (EMs) in identifying psychopathology in children. A new EM scoring system, the CEMSS, was developed to provide an objective, comprehensive analysis of the reported EMs. Subjects were 64 boys, SES IV and V, 8 through 12 years old from four diagnostic groups--Delinquent, Hyperactive, Somatic Complaints, and Schizoid. Overall, the CEMSS provided an effective means to distinguish the diagnostic groups, p less than or equal to .01. The results suggest that content variables best distinguished the type of presenting psychopathology, whereas an earlier study found that structural EM variables most reliably identified the degree of psychopathology.     

Adlerian-oriented early memory research: what does it tell us?

Of the different approaches to interpreting early memories (EMs), Adlerian-oriented EM research comparatively has shown a most substantial increase in the past 10 years. I examine all Adlerian-oriented EM research appearing from 1981 through 1990. The majority of the research provides a tentative base of support for Adler's (1931) views about EMs. However, several deficiencies in these investigations are identified (e.g., a lack of pilot studies), and some recommendations are made for future EM studies.     

B2B commitment building in emerging markets: the case of Brazil

The research examines the suitability of relationship marketing paradigms to emerging markets (EMs) through the lens of communication, relationship benefits and commitment. Using the U.S. as a developed nation sample and Brazil as a proxy for EM countries like the BRIC nations, a B2B buyer–supplier commitment-building model is conceptualized and tested for context-specific boundaries. The study compares communication behaviors and relationship benefits along functional, psychological and social dimensions to discern the evaluation process and governance mechanisms influenced by an EM buyer’s institutional environment. Results showed that buyers from relation-based EMs like Brazil base their relationship commitment more on the psychological attributes of the partnership, while a buyer’s commitment-building process in rule-based, developed nations like the US is largely influenced by functional attributes.     

Predicting depression using earliest childhood memories

In order to investigate the utility of earliest childhood memories (EMs) in clinical assessment, this study investigated the value of EMs in predicting naturally occurring depressive mood states. Of interest were those features of EMs that discriminate depressed from nondepressed individuals. Subjects were 212 undergraduate volunteers who completed the Beck Depression Inventory, the Profile of Mood States, and a self-administered EM questionnaire. Utilizing thematic predictors derived from cognitive and psychodynamic theories of depression, depressed subjects were differentiated from nondepressed subjects at a rate significantly greater than chance, p less than .001, with a highly respectable estimate of cross-validation shrinkage. The findings demonstrate the phenomenon of mood dependent recall in autobiographical memory, namely, that memory attributes are strongly influenced by current mood state. Consistent with psychodynamic theories of depression and in contrast to cognitive theory, depressive mood states appear to facilitate retrieval of memory schemas involving deprivation and disturbing human interaction. Schemas involving loss of control, failure, or reactions to noncontingent reinforcement (perceptions of the self as agent) appear less salient than relationship schemas (perceptions of the self as related) in depressive experience.     

Covert and overt orienting of attention to emotional faces in anxiety

Attentional biases for emotional faces were investigated in high, medium, and low anxiety groups (N = 54) using a probe detection task. Four types of facial expression (threat, sad, happy, neutral) were used to examine the specificity of the bias. Attentional bias measures were derived from manual reaction times (RTs) to probes and the direction of initial eye movement (EM) to the faces. The RT data indicated enhanced vigilance for threat rather than neutral faces in high and medium, but not low, state anxiety. The bias for negative faces appeared to be a combined function of stimulus threat value and the individual's anxiety level. The RT bias did not seem to depend on overt orienting, as many participants made few EMs. However, those who made frequent EMs to the faces showed concordance between the RT and EM bias measures, and so the RT measure of attentional bias for negative versus positive faces at 500 ms appears to provide a valid index of the direction of initial orienting to emotional stimuli. There was no evidence of an anxiety - related bias for happy faces (predicted by the emotionality hypothesis), nor a dysphoria - related bias for sad faces. However, increased dysphoria scores were associated with reduced attentiveness to happy faces.     

Eye movements and brain electric potentials during reading

The development of theories and computational models of reading requires an understanding of processing constraints, in particular of timelines related to word recognition and oculomotor control. Timelines of word recognition are usually determined with event-related potentials (ERPs) recorded under conditions of serial visual presentation (SVP) of words; timelines of oculomotor control are derived from parameters of eye movements (EMs) during natural reading. We describe two strategies to integrate these approaches. One is to collect ERPs and EMs in separate SVP and natural reading experiments for the same experimental material (but different subjects). The other strategy is to co-register EMs and ERPs during natural reading from the same subjects. Both strategies yield data that allow us to determine how lexical properties influence ERPs (e.g., the N400 component) and EMs (e.g., fixation durations) across neighboring words. We review our recent research on the effects of frequency and predictability of words on both EM and ERP measures with reference to current models of eye-movement control during reading. Results are in support of the proposition that lexical access is distributed across several fixations and across brain-electric potentials measured on neighboring words.     

Earliest memories and the dynamics of delinquency: a replication study

A previous study of early childhood memories (EMs) with a sample of 15 delinquents and 18 nondelinquent controls successfully identified 80% of the delinquents and 100% of the nondelinquents. Our study used 71 delinquents and 71 nondelinquent controls matched for age, whereas gender (male) and geographical area were held constant. Socioeconomic status (SES) was restricted to middle class and above. Several refinements were also made to the previous EM scoring system to make it more useful to clinicians, and four EMs were elicited rather than two in the prior study. Predictive results with a discriminant analysis were consistent with those from the previous study and were highly significant--81.7% were correctly classified as delinquents and 95.8% as nondelinquents. The study effectively validates the use of the EM scoring system for this population. The results are discussed from the standpoint of the Cognitive-Perceptual approach to EMs and current models of delinquency.     

Coregistration of eye movements and EEG in natural reading: analyses and review

Brain-electric correlates of reading have traditionally been studied with word-by-word presentation, a condition that eliminates important aspects of the normal reading process and precludes direct comparisons between neural activity and oculomotor behavior. In the present study, we investigated effects of word predictability on eye movements (EM) and fixation-related brain potentials (FRPs) during natural sentence reading. Electroencephalogram (EEG) and EM (via video-based eye tracking) were recorded simultaneously while subjects read heterogeneous German sentences, moving their eyes freely over the text. FRPs were time-locked to first-pass reading fixations and analyzed according to the cloze probability of the currently fixated word. We replicated robust effects of word predictability on EMs and the N400 component in FRPs. The data were then used to model the relation among fixation duration, gaze duration, and N400 amplitude, and to trace the time course of EEG effects relative to effects in EM behavior. In an extended Methodological Discussion section, we review 4 technical and data-analytical problems that need to be addressed when FRPs are recorded in free-viewing situations (such as reading, visual search, or scene perception) and propose solutions. Results suggest that EEG recordings during normal vision are feasible and useful to consolidate findings from EEG and eye-tracking studies.     

Flashbulb memories of the Pope's resignation: Explicit and implicit measures across differing religious groups

In the present paper, we aimed to provide evidence in support of the idea tested in a recent study by Lanciano and colleagues that flashbulb memories (FBMs) are a special class of autobiographical memories that can be assessed through the autobiographical implicit association test (aIAT). FBMs and event memories (EMs) for the news of the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI were evaluated in three samples of churchgoer Catholic, non-churchgoer Catholic and Evangelical Italian participants through the traditional self-report measures (specificity/accuracy, confidence, consistency) and aIAT indices. Results confirmed the strength of the association between FBM and true information. The aIAT effect was stronger for FBMs than for EM details, and for Catholic respondents who were the group most concerned by the original event. Furthermore, the use of implicit measures for memory assessment concurs with the traditional self-report indices of FBMs. The present evidence supports the idea that FBMs are special autobiographical memories which remain detailed, certain and consistent over time.     

When remembering is not enough: reflecting on self-defining memories in late adolescence

This study examined which kinds of self-defining memories show spontaneous references to larger meanings, and listener responses to two kinds of meaning-lessons and insights. Narratives of three self-defining memories and episodes of telling the memories to others were collected from each of 168 late adolescents (M age=19). Narratives were coded for event type (relationship, mortality, achievement, and leisure) and for references to tension and to meaning (lesson or insight). Narratives of memorable episodes of having told the memories to others were coded for listener response (positive or negative). References to meaning emerged in one-fourth of the memory narratives, and meaning was more common for self-defining memory narratives that contained references to tension. Memories that reportedly had not been told to others in the past showed the same proportion of meaning as did memories that had been told to others (23%), with insights more prevalent than lessons. For memories that had been told to others, insights were more likely to be accepted by listeners than lessons. Implications were discussed for understanding the development of meaning in self-defining memories and the collaborative construction of identity.     

The Warpy Thoughts Scale: a New 20‐Item Instrument to Measure Dysfunctional Attitudes

Cognitive theories of psychopathology propose that specific negative cognitive schema held by individuals can increase their likelihood of experiencing depressive episodes. While it has been argued that such dysfunctional attitudes are state measures that occur primarily during periods of depression, a range of research has supported the view that holding dysfunctional attitudes is ongoing, persisting prior to and following depressive episodes. To date, the need for a parsimonious measure of dysfunctional attitudes has not been well addressed. Using data provided by 4545 participants in a free on‐line cognitive behavioural therapy program, MoodGYM, we have developed the Warpy Thoughts Scale (WTS), a 20‐item instrument measuring dysfunctional attitudes. This scale provides 3 first order factors (Relationships, Achievements and Entitlements) and a higher order factor, Warpy Thoughts, from which a Warpy Thoughts score can be obtained. Confirmatory factor analyses on this model indicated that it provides robust results for men and women and for individuals in a wide range of ages. WTS scores were moderately correlated with levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms (0.39 and 0.40, respectively) and explained up to one‐fifth of the variance of these mental health measures. Further validation of the WTS against other measures of dysfunctional thoughts is required.     

The warpy thoughts scale: a new 20-item instrument to measure dysfunctional attitudes

Cognitive theories of psychopathology propose that specific negative cognitive schema held by individuals can increase their likelihood of experiencing depressive episodes. While it has been argued that such dysfunctional attitudes are state measures that occur primarily during periods of depression, a range of research has supported the view that holding dysfunctional attitudes is ongoing, persisting prior to and following depressive episodes. To date, the need for a parsimonious measure of dysfunctional attitudes has not been well addressed. Using data provided by 4545 participants in a free on-line cognitive behavioural therapy program, MoodGYM, we have developed the Warpy Thoughts Scale (WTS), a 20-item instrument measuring dysfunctional attitudes. This scale provides 3 first order factors (Relationships, Achievements and Entitlements) and a higher order factor, Warpy Thoughts, from which a Warpy Thoughts score can be obtained. Confirmatory factor analyses on this model indicated that it provides robust results for men and women and for individuals in a wide range of ages. WTS scores were moderately correlated with levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms (0.39 and 0.40, respectively) and explained up to one-fifth of the variance of these mental health measures. Further validation of the WTS against other measures of dysfunctional thoughts is required.     

Tones inferior to eye movements in the EMDR treatment of PTSD

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an effective treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). During EMDR, patients make eye movements (EMs) while recalling traumatic memories, but recently therapists have replaced EMs by alternating beep tones. There are no outcome studies on the effects of tones. In an earlier analogue study, tones were inferior to EMs in the reduction of vividness of aversive memories. In a first EMDR session, 12 PTSD patients recalled trauma memories in three conditions: recall only, recall + tones, and recall + EMs. Three competing hypotheses were tested: 1) EMs are as effective as tones and better than recall only, 2) EMs are better than tones and tones are as effective as recall only, and 3) EMs are better than tones and tones are better than recall only. The order of conditions was balanced, each condition was delivered twice, and decline in memory vividness and emotionality served as outcome measures. The data strongly support hypothesis 2 and 3 over 1: EMs outperformed tones while it remained unclear if tones add to recall only. The findings add to earlier considerations and earlier analogue findings suggesting that EMs are superior to tones and that replacing the former by the latter was premature.     

Validity of a brief interview for assessing reflective function

The Reflective Function Scale was developed by Fonagy and colleagues (1998) to empirically measure the capacity to mentalize thoughts, intentions, feelings, and beliefs about oneself and others. Reflective Function (RF) has been reliably measured by the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI; Main and Goldwyn 1998), but its length (45-90 minutes) and the labor required to administer, transcribe, and code for RF may be prohibitive for many research studies. The present study measured the reliability and validity of the Brief Reflective Function Interview (BRFI; Rudden, Milrod, and Target 2005) by administering it to 27 undergraduate participants previously assessed using the AAI in another research study (Morrison 2010). The BRFI was coded reliably by two independent raters (ICC = .79) and yielded a highly significant positive correlation (r = .71) between RF scores obtained by BRFI and by AAI. The average administration time of the BRFI (M = 24.15 minutes) was significantly shorter than that of the AAI (M = 44.65 minutes). These findings suggest that the BRFI may offer a reliable, valid, and streamlined alternative to the AAI as a measure for coding RF.     

Correlates of relative lethality and suicidal intent among deliberate self-harm patients

Conflicting findings have been reported regarding the relationship between the potential lethality of acts of deliberate self-harm (DSH) and suicidal intent, and how each relates to patient characteristics. This study examines the relationship of suicidal intent of DSH to lethality, the relationship of both to patient characteristics, and determines if intent or lethality are risk factors for repetition of DSH. Potential lethality and Suicide Intent Scale (SIS) scores for DSH episodes were examined in a representative sample of 150 patients presenting to a general hospital. Follow-up interviews were completed 12 to 20 months later. Lethality was strongly associated with high intent. Both lethality and intent were associated with male gender. Suicidal intent but not lethality was associated with the presence of psychiatric disorder and depression. Intent was significantly correlated with hopelessness scale score. Although intent was correlated with both depression and self-esteem scale scores, these correlations became nonsignificant when the effect of hopelessness was removed. Repetition of DSH during the follow-up period was related to neither lethality nor intent scores for the original episodes. Lethality and suicidal intent, although related, have somewhat different correlates. Both should be considered when assessing DSH patients, but their relationship to further suicidal behavior does not appear to be straightforward.