Knowledge of memory functions in European and Asian American adults and children: The relation to autobiographical memory

This study investigated explicit knowledge of autobiographical memory functions using a newly developed questionnaire. European and Asian American adults (N = 57) and school-aged children (N = 68) indicated their agreement with 13 statements about why people think about and share memories pertaining to four broad functions—self, social, directive and emotion regulation. Children were interviewed for personal memories concurrently with the memory function knowledge assessment and again 3 months later. It was found that adults agreed to the self, social and directive purposes of memory to a greater extent than did children, whereas European American children agreed to the emotion regulation purposes of memory to a greater extent than did European American adults. Furthermore, European American children endorsed more self and emotion regulation functions than did Asian American children, whereas Asian American adults endorsed more directive functions than did European American adults. Children's endorsement of memory functions, particularly social functions, was associated with more detailed and personally meaningful memories. These findings are informative for the understanding of developmental and cultural influences on memory function knowledge and of the relation of such knowledge to autobiographical memory development.     

Discrete changes in the frequency and functions of autobiographical reminiscence in Huntington's disease

ABSTRACT

Autobiographical memory is widely posited to serve self, social and directive functions. Recent evidence suggests marked autobiographical memory impairments in Huntington's disease (HD), however, no study to date has determined how the perceived functions of autobiographical reminiscence may be altered in HD. The current study aimed to assess the self-reported frequency and function of autobiographical reminiscence in HD. We assessed autobiographical reminiscence in late premanifest (n?=?16) and early stage HD (n?=?14), relative to healthy controls (n?=?30). Participants completed the Thinking About Life Experiences Scale Revised (TALE-R), which measures three putative functions of autobiographical memory (self, social, directive). People with manifest HD reported talking less frequently about the past compared to controls. In contrast, no group differences were found in terms of thinking about the past. Manifest HD participants further reported using their autobiographical memories for social functions less frequently compared to controls. No other group differences were evident in terms of self or directive functions of autobiographical memory. These self-report findings complement recent reports of autobiographical memory disruption on performance-based tasks in HD. Future studies exploring how changes in autobiographical reminiscence impact a sense of self continuity in HD will be important in this regard.     

Identifying distinct sets of predictors of specific functions of autobiographical memory

ABSTRACT

Grounded in the ecological approach, research has charted several adaptive functions of autobiographical remembering. Each represents a rather different psychosocial domain (i.e., self, social, directive). The goal of this research was to determine the contributions of each of a set of variables, controlling for all others, in predicting use of autobiographical memory to serve each specific function. In two studies, participants (N?=?100; N?=?195) rated frequency of functional use of specific event memories and completed a brief battery of memory-related measures. Most Study One results were replicated in Study Two. Self-relevance of memories was related to their functional use regardless of domain. Each function was also, however, predicted by a unique set of variables consistent with its use in a given psychosocial domain. Findings emphasise how a combination of factors come into play to allow humans to use autobiographical memory to serve various different functions in navigating daily life.     

Memory and Affect: Autobiographical Memory Distribution and Availability in Normal Adults and Recently Detoxifed Alcoholics

An autobiographical memory task was administered to a group of 15 male alcoholics (duration of abuse x = 16 years) and to a control group comprised of 15 nonabusers. The alcoholics were inpatients in a chemical dependence treatment program who had their last drink 8 days prior to testing. Two aspects of autobiographical memory were compared. First, the distribution of memories for life events over the lifespan clearly differed for the two groups. The alcoholic group recalled far fewer memories from the most recent 5 years and showed an exaggerated tendency to recall memories from their early adulthood when compared to the control group. This result is consistent with a model of the onset of a temporally graded retrograde amnesia subsequent to a protracted period of alcohol abuse. In such cases the context for self-evaluation may remain heavily rooted in late adolescence. Second, in contrast to results of the control group, the data from men in the alcohol group revealed no relationship between latency to report autobiographical memories associated with a particular affect and self-rated frequency of such affects. This dissociation indicates the possible impact of atypical memory performance on views of the self.     

Being American, being Asian: the bicultural self and autobiographical memory in Asian Americans

Studies of autobiographical memory have shown that the degree to which individuals focus on themselves vs. social relations in their memories varies markedly across cultures. Do the differences result from differing cultural self-views (i.e., an autonomous vs. a relational sense of self), as often suggested in the literature? Experimental evidence is required to answer this question. In the present study, Asian American participants (N=118) were primed to focus on their American or Asian self prior to recalling important autobiographical events, and participants in a control group described things in nature prior to the memory recall. Those whose American self was activated recalled more self-focused and less socially oriented memories than those whose Asian self was made salient, with the control group falling in between. The findings shed light on the mechanism underlying cultural influences on autobiographical remembering. They further highlight the dynamic nature of the memory-self interplay in cultural contexts.     

Employing autobiographical memory perspective to influence self‐congruence and brand preference

This paper advances our understanding of consumer behavior by examining the influence of autobiographical memory perspective on consumer's self‐congruence. While extant research has primarily restricted itself to the consequences of self‐congruence, this work focuses on an antecedent, by examining the psychological processes associated with the consumer's autobiographical memory perspective and the resulting impact on self‐congruence. Through three experiments, we demonstrate that visualizing autobiographical memories from a first‐person versus a third‐person perspective impacts consumers' self‐brand congruence differently under varied circumstances. Specifically, differing degrees of self‐brand congruence are experienced when consumers focus on differences (vs. similarities) between their present and recalled selves, combined with distinct autobiographical memory perspectives. The autobiographical memory perspective is identified as a key determinant of consumers' perceived change in self‐image, which, in turn, has a cascading effect on their self‐brand congruence. Thus, consumers' perceived change in self‐image is identified as the mechanism underlying the main effect. Furthermore, as an important component of self‐image, this research determines and examines a moderating influence of self‐esteem in the relationship between autobiographical memory perspective and self‐congruence. Collectively, these results facilitate our understanding of the autobiographical memory perspective as an antecedent of consumer's self‐congruence, with implications for nostalgia advertising and retro branding.     

Relationship between frequency of involuntary autobiographical memories and cognitive failure

Involuntary autobiographical memories are memories of personal experiences that pop into mind without a conscious attempt at their retrieval. This study investigated individual differences in the number of involuntary autobiographical memories, and explored the relationship between the frequency of occurrence in involuntary autobiographical memory and cognitive failures in everyday memory, as indexed by metamemory questionnaires. A total of 24 undergraduate students reported involuntary autobiographical memories in controlled field interviews, and completed the Everyday Memory Questionnaire and the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire. The results showed that, despite controlled conditions, considerable individual differences were observed in the number of involuntary autobiographical memories reported while walking along a prescribed route on the campus, and that reported memories were predominantly serving self function. In addition, the number of involuntary autobiographical memories was positively related to cognitive failures in everyday memory: participants who acknowledged more problems in everyday memory had a higher frequency of involuntary memories. The implications of these results are discussed in terms of the complementary function of involuntary autobiographical memory in everyday life.     

The relationship between sociocultural factors and autobiographical memories from childhood: the role of formal schooling

ABSTRACT

Cross-cultural differences in autobiographical memory (AM) are associated with cultural variations. In models of the self and parental reminiscing style, but not many studies have analysed the relationship between AM and specific cultural practices such as formal schooling. Theoreticians like [Greenfield, P. M. (2009). Linking social change and developmental change: Shifting. pathways of human development. Developmental Psychology, 45, 401–418. doi:10.1037/a0014726; Ka?itçiba?i, C. (2005). Autonomy and relatedness in cultural context. Implications for self and family. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 36, 403–422. doi:10.1177/0022022105275959] and [Keller, H. (2007). Children development across cultures. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates] have considered formal schooling as an engine towards the model of independence; however, the empirical evidence in this regard is inconclusive: while some studies found evidence of a relation between formal schooling and characteristics of AM, others did not. To solve this inconsistency, the present study compared orally narrated childhood memories of Mexican adults with three different levels of education (from rudimentary literacy to university). Results support a relationship between formal schooling and AM in the predicted direction: More educated participants reported longer, more specific and more self-oriented memories than those with less schooling experience did. Some gender differences were also observed, with males generally reporting more individually and less socially oriented memories than females, except for university level participants. We conclude that these results support Greenfield’s theory about formal schooling as a sociocultural factor that promotes the cultural pathway to independence, as well as complexity and context-boundedness of gender differences in AM.     

Observer memories may not be for everyone

ABSTRACT

Six studies explored the preponderance of people who experience third-person perspective observer memories during autobiographical memory retrieval. The concept of first-person field versus observer memories has been extensively used in the areas of cognitive, social, and clinical psychology. An implicit assumption is the idea that most people use both of these perspectives. What varies are the circumstances that bias people to use one perspective over another for a given autobiographical memory. We challenge that assumption across six studies by showing that, while there are some people who report to regularly have observer memories, there are also those that report to rarely or never have them. These reports were found to be related to levels of reported dissociative experiences. We discuss how this difference in the experience of observer memories may also reflect other innate characteristics, and may correspond to predispositions for various pathologies, including depression, social phobia, and post-traumatic stress disorder.     

The role of executive function in autobiographical memory retrieval: does the type of cue word matter?

ABSTRACT

Autobiographical memories are memories for personally experienced life events. Previous research has revealed individual differences in the ability to recall specific memories that happened at a particular time and place. Some studies suggest such differences can be attributed to the varying capacity of executive function. However, little is known regarding which specific executive function skills predict autobiographical memory specificity. Participants were asked to complete multiple measures of executive function as well as an autobiographical memory task in which they were asked to recall a specific personal memory connected to concrete and abstract cue words. We hypothesised that executive function will be positively related to autobiographical memory specificity and that this relation will be moderated by the cue word type. The results revealed that individuals with higher executive function skills, specifically, higher inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility, recalled significantly more specific memories than those with lower executive function skills; however, no significant interaction between executive function ability and cue word type was found.     

Development and psychometric properties of a new measure for memory phenomenology: The Autobiographical Memory Characteristics Questionnaire

The purpose of this study is to develop a valid and reliable measure for the phenomenology of autobiographical memories. The psychometric properties of the Autobiographical Memory Characteristics Questionnaire (AMCQ) were tested in three studies: the factor structure of the AMCQ was examined for childhood memories in Study 1 (N = 305); for autobiographical memories related to romantic relationships in Study 2 (N = 197); and for self-defining memories in Study 3 (N = 262). The explanatory factor analyses performed for each memory type demonstrated the consistency of the AMCQ factor structure across all memory types; while a confirmatory factor analysis on the data garnered from all three studies supported the constructs for the autobiographical memory characteristics defined by the researchers. The AMCQ consists of 63 items and 14 factors, and the internal consistency values of all 14 scales were ranged between .66 and .97. The relationships between the AMCQ scales related to gender and individual emotions, as well as the intercorrelations among the scales, were consistent with both theoretical expectations and previous findings. The results of all the three studies indicated that this new instrument is a reliable and robust measure for memory phenomenology.     

Five weeks of immersive reminiscence therapy improves autobiographical memory in Alzheimer’s disease

ABSTRACT

We examined the effects of a new Immersive Reminiscence Therapy (IRT) programme on cognitive function, including autobiographical memory, in a sample Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients. A total of 43 AD patients with mild to moderate disease severity were randomly assigned to either an intervention group (n?=?22, MMMSE?=?20.77), or a control group (n?=?21, MMMSE?=?19.24). The intervention group received one weekly group-based session of IRT for five weeks in an authentic 1950s style museum environment, matching the time of the participants’ youth. IRT included semi-structured conversations about the past. The control group received standard care. We assessed performance on cognitive function and autobiographical memory at baseline and post-intervention. Five weeks of IRT enhanced subsequent autobiographical memory performance, when participants were cued by concrete objects dated to their youth. Object-cued memories reported post intervention included a significantly higher degree of episodic details and higher word counts. The intervention showed no effect on the Autobiographical Memory Interview or word-cued recall. Global cognitive function and semantic autobiographical memory performance increased across time for both groups. Our findings demonstrate that immersion into a setting, rich on concrete cues dated to the participants’ youth can improve autobiographical remembering.     

Wisdom and memory: Autobiographical memories as the foundation for the recall of wisdom incidents

This article explores how autobiographical memory serves as the foundation for people's accounts of their wisdom. Two complementary approaches to wisdom are introduced: an intrapersonal or person-based approach, which defines wisdom as personal qualities or personality traits, and an interactionist or endeavor-based approach, which focuses on wisdom incidents—people's displays of wisdom in real-life situations. The literatures on autobiographical memory and on wisdom suggest that, when wisdom is defined as personal qualities or personality traits, its foundation in autobiographical memory is self-concept. However, when wisdom is defined as actual displays of wisdom, its foundation in autobiographical memory is specific autobiographical memories. The article discusses how autobiographical memory grounds and constrains the memories of wisdom. Further, using research on autobiographical memory, it argues that memories of wisdom incidents serve self, directive, and social functions, and that such memories are highly accessible, vividly remembered, and reasonably accurate.     

Memories defining the self in Alzheimer’s disease

ABSTRACT

There is a debate over the extent to which personal identity or the self is preserved in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Autobiographical memory deficits at early stages of AD could contribute to altering patients’ self. However, the nature of the relationship between autobiographical memory deficits and the self in AD has not been much investigated experimentally. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the integrative meaning of self-defining memories (SDMs) in early stages of AD and to analyse its relationship with the self-concept. The results showed that, when compared to the control group, AD patients less frequently extracted meaning from their SDMs and the meaning was less frequently tied to the self. Patients exhibited some altered aspects of the self-concept (i.e., complexity and strength), though some other components still persisted (i.e., valence and certainty). Correlation analyses showed that the impaired integrative meaning in the AD group was correlated with some changes in self-concept. We suggest that integrative meaning may act as a bridge between autobiographical memories and the self-concept, with reduced integration abilities appearing as a potential mechanism for the deterioration of the self-concept in AD.     

Self-grounding visual,auditory and olfactory autobiographical memories

Given that autobiographical memory provides a cognitive foundation for the self, we investigated the relative importance of visual, auditory and olfactory autobiographical memories for the self. Thirty subjects, with a mean age of 35.4 years, participated in a study involving a three × three within-subject design containing nine different types of autobiographical memory cues: pictures, sounds and odors presented with neutral, positive and negative valences. It was shown that visual compared to auditory and olfactory autobiographical memories involved higher cognitive and emotional constituents for the self. Furthermore, there was a trend showing positive autobiographical memories to increase their proportion to both cognitive and emotional components of the self, from olfactory to auditory to visually cued autobiographical memories; but, yielding a reverse trend for negative autobiographical memories. Finally, and independently of modality, positive affective states were shown to be more involved in autobiographical memory than negative ones.     

Social support from friends predicts changes in memory specificity following a stressful life event

ABSTRACT

Exposure to negative life stress has been associated with difficulty retrieving memories for specific autobiographical events, with important consequences for the emergence of emotional disorders. We examined whether social support can protect against the effects of negative events on memory specificity. University students (N?=?143) were assigned to groups based on whether or not they experienced a negative stressor, operationalised as whether or not their recent exam performance was in line with their expectations. After receiving their exam results (T1), and one month later (T2), participants completed measures of memory specificity, their attitudes towards themselves and the occurrence of other stress-related events. Participants also completed a general measure of perceived social support from friends, family, and significant others, and an equivalent measure for social support related to performance. For participants who experienced an exam-related stressor, reduced performance-specific social support from friends was associated with reduced memory specificity at T2, even when accounting for T1 memory specificity, individual differences in attitudes towards self, the experience of additional stressors, and gender. No such relation was present for participants who did not experience a stressor. These findings provide new understanding of the influence of social variables on autobiographical memory specificity.     

The role of lifetime periods in the organisation of episodic memories

ABSTRACT

Research on the nature of episodic memory associations has suggested that episodic memories are associated by conceptual knowledge, where memories cluster around the same content (e.g. memories about the same people) or general-event knowledge, where memories cluster around extended events (e.g. a holiday in London), repeated events (e.g. Sunday walks in the park), or causally related events (i.e. where one event leads to another). Research has also suggested that episodic memories are associated by lifetime periods (e.g. when I was in high school), where memories cluster within lifetime periods. However, it is unclear whether episodic memories can be associated solely by lifetime periods, or if such associations are subordinate to conceptual or general-event associations. To answer this question, we reanalysed a large sample of involuntary memory chains (Mace, J. H., Clevinger, A. M., & Bernas, R. S. (2013). Involuntary memory chains: What do they tell us about autobiographical memory organisation? Memory, 21, 324–335). The results of this analysis suggested that lifetime periods associations are subordinate to conceptual and general-event associations, as lifetime periods were found to cluster within the latter two associations. The potential functions of this organisation are discussed.     

Autobiographical memory bias in social anxiety

In social anxiety the psychological self is closely related to the feared stimulus. Socially anxious individuals are, by definition, concerned about how the self is perceived and evaluated by others. As autobiographical memory is strongly related to views of the self it follows that biases in autobiographical memory play an important role in social anxiety. In the present study high (n = 19) and low (n = 29) socially anxious individuals were compared on autobiographical memory bias, current goals, and self-discrepancy. Individuals high in social anxiety showed a bias towards recalling more negative and more social anxiety-related autobiographical memories, reported more current goals related to overcoming social anxiety, and showed larger self-discrepancies. The pattern of results is largely in line with earlier research in individuals with PTSD and complicated grief. This suggests that the relation between autobiographical memory bias and the self is a potentially valuable trans-diagnostic factor.