Mental time travel after trauma: The specificity and temporal distribution of autobiographical memories and future-directed thoughts

The present study investigated the relationship between trauma exposure and specificity and temporal distribution of autobiographical memories and future-directed thoughts. A group of sexual assault victims were compared with women without previous trauma exposure in relation to specificity of autobiographical memories, as measured by the Autobiographical Memory Task (AMT) and specificity of future-directed thoughts as measured by the Future Cueing Task (FCT). The temporal distribution of future-directed thoughts and autobiographical memories was studied by asking the participants to estimate when each memory reported on the AMT had occurred and when each future event reported on the FCT would occur. The results showed no difference between the trauma group and the controls on specificity of autobiographical memories and future-directed thoughts. In line with a review of Moore and Zoellner (2007), PTSD symptoms as measured by the Impact of Event Scale (IES) correlated negatively with specificity. Furthermore, we observed no difference in temporal distribution of future-directed thoughts or autobiographical memories between trauma exposed participants and controls.     

How are depression and autobiographical memory retrieval related to culture?

This study investigated how culture influences the association between autobiographical memory retrieval and depression. Thirty clinically depressed patients and 30 controls, 15 each from Britain and Taiwan, completed the English and Chinese versions of the Autobiographical Memory Cueing Task (AMT). Overall, the depressed individuals from both cultural groups retrieved significantly fewer specific and more categoric autobiographical memories than their matched, nondepressed controls. Within the control groups, the British participants retrieved significantly more specific autobiographical memories and fewer categoric memories than their Taiwanese counterparts. These results suggest that difficulty in retrieving specific autobiographical memories typical of depression may be a cognitive bias that occurs across cultures.     

Trauma and autobiographical memory specificity in depressed inpatients

Research on autobiographical memory has shown that clinical depression is associated with a difficulty in retrieving specific autobiographical memories in response to cue words. This study examined the relation between lack of autobiographical memory specificity and self-reported trauma in a group of depressed adults (N = 23). In addition to the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT; Williams & Broadbent, 1986) participants completed a number of questionnaires assessing the presence of traumatic experiences in the past, level of depression and neuroticism. The number of specific responses was not related to depression severity, but was significantly associated with the presence and severity of reported physical abuse. Participants who had been victim of physical abuse were less specific than participants who had not been confronted with such physical adversities. The results are discussed in the context of a functional hypothesis about the developmental relations between memory specificity, trauma and depression.     

Levels of specificity of autobiographical memories and of biographical memories of the deceased in bereaved individuals with and without complicated grief

Traumatized individuals experiencing posttraumatic stress have difficulty retrieving specific autobiographical memories to cue words on the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT; J. M. G. Williams & K. Broadbent, 1986). This may represent a generalized, functional avoidance of the personal past. However, such individuals also often report specific intrusive memories of their trauma in the day-to-day. This raises the possibility that memories tied to the source of the person's distress are immune to this putative avoidance process. This was investigated in bereaved individuals with complicated grief (CG) who reported intrusive, specific memories from the life of their deceased loved one, and matched bereaved controls without CG. Participants performed the AMT and two Biographical Memory Tests (BMTs), cueing memories from the life of the deceased (BMT-Deceased) and from a living significant other (BMT-Living). To negative word cues, the CG group showed reduced specificity for the AMT and BMT-Living, relative to controls, but this effect was reversed on the BMT-Deceased. These data support the proposal that memories tied to the source of an individual's distress are immune to the processes that underlie the standard reduced specificity effect.     

Specificity of episodic and semantic aspects of autobiographical memory in relation to symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Two studies examined the relationship between the ability to access specific autobiographical material in memory and presence/symptoms of posttraumatic stress. In Study 1, a sample of refugees with a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) completed the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT) in which they had to generate specific episodic autobiographical memories in response to emotion-related cue words. Results showed that reduced specificity of memories on the AMT was associated with an increased frequency of trauma-related flashbacks but with reduced use of effortful avoidance to deal with trauma-related intrusions in the day-to-day. Study 2 examined retrieval of semantic autobiographical information from previous lifetime periods in groups of cancer survivors with posttraumatic stress and healthy controls. The cancer survivors were able to generate fewer specific semantic details about the personal past compared to the controls. The more symptomatic survivors showed the greatest memory impairment. The data from both studies are discussed in terms of compromised access to specific autobiographical material in distressed trauma survivors reflecting a process of affect regulation.     

创伤青少年自传体记忆具体性减少：情感调节还是执行控制受损

结合经典的自传体记忆测验(AMT)和反转-自传体记忆测验(AMT-R)探究创伤青少年自传体记忆具体性减少的原因。首先通过创伤事件终身经历问卷-学生版(LIET-S)和创伤后症状自评量表(CROPS)对630名青少年进行筛查, 然后结合访谈, 并采用儿童事件冲击量表-修订版(CRIES)测量创伤程度, 最终选取有创伤后症状的青少年63名, 分为高创伤组和低创伤组, 另无创伤经历的青少年30名作为控制组。三组被试均参加AMT和AMT-R实验。结果发现, 在AMT中, 创伤青少年表现出自传体记忆具体性减少的特点, 且创伤后症状越严重, 具体性减少越明显; 在AMT-R中, 创伤青少年提取的具体记忆数量与控制组无显著差异。结果表明, 创伤青少年自传体记忆具体性的减少是情感调节的结果。     

Autobiographical memory specificity in response to emotion pictorial cues among non‐clinical participants

The objective of the current study was to investigate whether emotion pictorial cues increase memory specificity among non‐clinical participants. Undergraduate university students were presented with emotion word and pictorial cues on a prompted and non‐prompted version of the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT). In comparison to pictorial cues, participants retrieved significantly fewer specific autobiographical memories in response to word cues on the prompted AMT; however, there was no significant difference on the non‐prompted AMT. Participants also retrieved significantly fewer specific memories in response to both word and pictorial cues on the non‐prompted AMT compared with the prompted AMT. These results provide support for the hypothesis that among non‐clinical participants, visual cues increase memory specificity over and above emotion. Further research is needed to investigate ways in which memory specificity can be increased and the use of imagery may be a promising avenue.     

Autobiographical Memory in Patients with Tinnitus

Studies on psychiatric patients have found that their memories of the past are often unspecific and overgeneral, but the extent to which this is the case for patients with somatic problems has so far only been examined in patients with chronic pain and in patients with diabetes. The present study investigated autobiographical memories in 19 tinnitus patients and 19 controls without tinnitus. Participants were administered the autobiographical memory test (AMT), the Controlled word association test, and self-report measures of depression, anxiety, and tinnitus distress. Compared to control participants, tinnitus patients had difficulty retrieving specific memories and showed longer retrieval latencies. Additionally, tinnitus patients had fewer specific memories to positive cue words. While AMT responses were associated with depression scores, the difference between controls and patients remained significant for positive cue words after controlling for depression scores. Results suggest that cognitive components should be an integral element of the psychological management of tinnitus. The use in future studies of experimental methods such as AMT in health psychology is encouraged.     

Autobiographical memory style in seasonal affective disorder and its relationship to future symptom remission

Autobiographical memory was examined in participants with seasonal affective disorder (SAD). In Experiment 1, participants with SAD performed an autobiographical memory task (AMT) in the winter, when depressed. The AMT required participants to generate autobiographical memories to positive and negative cue words. Symptom levels were reassessed in the summer, when participants were remitted. The number of overly general memories to positive cues generated when the SAD participants were depressed predicted symptom levels when remitted, over and above initial symptom levels, with greater winter overgenerality being associated with high levels of summer symptoms. However, this was dependent on the exact measure of depressive symptoms used. The degree of overgenerality of memories in SAD participants was further investigated in Experiment 2. Results revealed that SAD participants did not show elevated recall of overgeneral memories relative to controls. The results as a whole indicate that, even when levels of general memories are no greater in a given target group than in controls, the absolute level of general memories to positive cue words is still independently related to symptom outcome.     

Autobiographical Memory Specificity in Patients with Tinnitus Versus Patients with Depression and Normal Controls

Several studies show that patients with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder respond with fewer specific autobiographical memories in a cued memory task (i.e. the autobiographical memory test; AMT) compared to healthy controls. One previous study found this phenomenon among tinnitus patients as well (Andersson, Ingerholt, & Jansson, 2003). The aim of this study was to replicate the previous study with an additional control group of depressed patients and memory errors as measured with the AMT as an additional outcome. We included 20 normal hearing tinnitus patients, 20 healthy controls and 20 persons diagnosed with clinical depression. The AMT was administered together with self-report measures of depression, anxiety and tinnitus distress. Both the tinnitus and depression groups differed from the healthy control group in that they reported fewer specific autobiographical memories. There were, however, differences between the tinnitus and depression groups in terms of the errors made on the AMT. The depression group had more overgeneral memories than the normal control group, whereas the tinnitus group did not differ from the control group on this memory error. The tinnitus group had more semantic associations and non-memories than the other two groups, suggesting that executive functioning may play a role for the tinnitus group when completing the AMT. Clinical and theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.     

Cue self-relevance affects autobiographical memory specificity in individuals with a history of major depression

Previously depressed and never-depressed individuals identified personal characteristics (self-guides) defining their ideal, ought, and feared selves. One week later they completed the autobiographical memory test (AMT). For each participant the number of AMT cues that reflected self-guide content was determined to produce an index of AMT cue self-relevance. Individuals who had never been depressed showed no significant relationship between cue self-relevance and specificity. In contrast, in previously depressed participants there was a highly significant negative correlation between cue self-relevance and specificity--the greater the number of AMT cues that reflected self-guide content, the fewer specific memories participants recalled. It is suggested that in individuals with a history of depression, cues reflecting self-guide content are more likely to prompt a shift to processing of information within the long-term self (Conway, Singer, & Tagini, 2004), increasing the likelihood that self-related semantic information will be provided in response to cues on the autobiographical memory test.     

Autobiographical memory specificity, psychopathology, depressed mood and the use of the Autobiographical Memory Test: a meta-analysis

Reviewing the literature on autobiographical memory overgenerality, as measured by a cueing task like the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT), gives a diffuse view of the moderating role of depression. This meta-analysis is an attempt to investigate the role of depression in the specificity of autobiographical memory, while accounting for the role of patient and task variables as possible moderators. Meta-analytic techniques are used to synthesize data from 14 studies on the recall of specific autobiographical memories in psychiatric and non-psychiatric samples. The results confirm the relationship between overgenerality and depression. The psychiatric patients are less specific than their non-clinical controls. It is not possible to establish that this result is solely due to a (co-morbid) diagnosis of depression. Self-reported depressed mood is also related to an impairment of autobiographical memory specificity. The way of presenting cues, audio taping responses and the maximum available amount of time to respond, are moderators of AMT performance.     

Autobiographical memories and views of the future: In relation to dysphoria

The present study investigated dysphoric individuals' self‐referential processing of autobiographical memories and future personal events, in relation to specificity and response latency. Dysphoric individuals (n  =  17) and nondysphoric controls (n  =  17) were selected from a larger sample based on self‐reported depression. Participants completed an autobiographical memory task (AMT) and a future event task (FET), using pleasant and unpleasant (anxiety‐relevant, depression‐relevant) emotional word cues. In response to each emotional cue, participants were required to access and write down a specific personal memory and future event, respectively. Consistent with the hypotheses, dysphoric individuals were less specific in describing pleasant and unpleasant experiences (particularly pleasant), irrespective of time condition. As expected, dysphoric individuals' specificity for distinct depression‐relevant and anxiety‐relevant experiences did not differ significantly. As predicted, all participants were less specific in describing future personal events than in recalling personal memories. As predicted, dysphoric individuals took longer to think of pleasant memories and pleasant future experiences than controls but, as expected, groups did not differ significantly on mean reaction times for past and future unpleasant experiences. Overall, the data showed a degree of consistency in participants' past and future‐oriented processing of self‐referential material. Although considerable research has investigated autobiographical memories in relation to emotional disturbance, the present findings suggest that constructing future emotional experiences is also an important aspect of mental health.     

Reduced specificity of emotional autobiographical memories following self-regulation depletion

The present study used a Color Stroop task, involving naming the ink colors of incongruous color words, to deplete self-regulation resources prior to retrieving a series of autobiographical memories to emotional and neutral cue words--the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT). Control participants either read color words written in black ink or performed no task prior to the AMT. Difficulty accessing specific memories on the AMT has been shown to index key aspects of the onset and maintenance of depression and other emotional disorders. Our hypothesis that depleted participants would retrieve fewer specific memories to cues on the AMT relative to controls was supported, even when levels of depressed and anxious mood, an index of clinical depression, posttraumatic stress, and verbal intelligence were covaried. The results indicate that self-regulation depletion via a neutral, unrelated task can impact on emotion-related autobiographical memory processes that have been shown to be dysfunctional in emotionally disordered populations.     

Autobiographical memory in dysphoric and non‐dysphoric college students using a computerised version of the AMT

On autobiographical memory tests (AMTs) using positive and negative cue words, research has consistently found that depressed individuals (relative to nondepressed controls) are more likely to recall overgeneral memories (OGMs) and are less likely to recall specific memories. A total of 56 undergraduates who scored high or low on a measure of depression were shown positive and negative word cues and event cues in a computerised AMT. Dysphoric college students made significantly fewer specific and more categoric (overgeneral) responses than controls, but did not differ from controls in terms of extended responses. Results suggest that the difference in memory specificity between low and high dysphoric students generalises across word and event cues and that a computerised version of the AMT can be used as an alternative to interviews as a form of administration.     

An “alternating instructions” version of the Autobiographical Memory Test for assessing autobiographical memory specificity in non-clinical populations

There is limited research regarding how executive processes contribute to key cognitive deficits in depression, particularly impoverished retrieval of autobiographical memory. This study tested a novel version of the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT), the “Alternating Instructions” AMT (AMT-AI), to determine how participants could flexibly retrieve specific and categoric autobiographical memories. The AMT-AI consisted of a standard AMT (AMT-S), a categoric version of the AMT (AMT-R), and a section of alternating instructions (AI) in which the rules required the participant to alternate between retrieval of categoric and specific memories. A total of 49 university students completed the AMT-AI, and self-report measures of depressive symptomatology and ruminative thinking. Results showed that the mean proportion of specific memories recalled on the AMT-AI was significantly lower than on the AMT-S. Also, reduced memory specificity on the AMT-AI, but not the AMT-S, was significantly negatively correlated with increased scores on measures of depressive symptomatology and ruminative thinking. Collectively the data suggested that the AMT-AI, relative to the traditional AMT, may be more sensitive to memory specificity in non-clinical populations. Future research is warranted to further determine the psychometric properties and utility of the AMT-AI.     

Reduced autobiographical memory specificity and posttraumatic stress: exploring the contributions of impaired executive control and affect regulation

Reduced specificity of autobiographical memories retrieved to word cues on the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT) is associated with increased posttraumatic stress in traumatized samples. Theoretical debates concerning the dominant influences on this effect have focused on affect regulation, whereby specific personal information is avoided more by those experiencing greater distress, versus compromised executive control, whereby increased distress is associated with an inability to set aside inappropriately general responses on the AMT. The present study compared these 2 views in a correlational design using a reversed version of the AMT (the AMT-R) for which trauma-exposed participants (N=36) had to generate general memories from the past and avoid specific memories. An emphasis on the role of affect regulation would predict that distress would be associated with reduced specificity (as in the standard AMT), whereas emphasis on the role of executive control would predict that this relationship would be reversed. The data supported the affect regulation account, with greater posttraumatic stress being associated with reduced memory specificity.     

抑郁症患者的自传体记忆特征及其应用自传体记忆测验的元分析

研究目的在于探讨抑郁症患者自传体记忆的特征以及自传体记忆测验(the autobiographical memory test, AMT)在该领域的应用情况。通过文献检索, 搜集了18篇应用AMT作为测评工具的抑郁症自传体记忆研究, 抑郁症患者566人, 正常对照组457人。元分析研究发现, 和正常对照组比较, 抑郁症组的具体性记忆减少, 概括化记忆增多, 反应迟缓。目前对这种现象的解释主要有功能性回避模型、认知执行受损模型和沉思模型; 年龄、抑郁情绪以及AMT测试程序对测试结果有明显影响; 发表偏倚和敏感性分析显示存在发表偏倚, 但稳定性较好。AMT在抑郁症研究存在灵敏度不足等局限, 作者从AMT程序、研究设计等方面提出了改善建议。     

Correlates of autobiographical memory specificity: the role of depression, anxiety and childhood trauma

The present study examined the role of childhood trauma, major depressive disorder (MDD), and anxiety disorder (AD) in overgeneral autobiographical memory. Ninety-three outpatients and 24 healthy controls completed a childhood trauma questionnaire and an autobiographical memory test (AMT). Results showed that MDD diagnosis rather than trauma history predicted AMT-performance. Memory specificity was not related to AD diagnosis, recovered MDD, or self-rated depression severity. The present findings cast doubts on theories that emphasize the role of childhood trauma in overgeneral autobiographical memory.     

Overgeneral memory and suppression of trauma memories in post-traumatic stress disorder

The study investigated the relationship between the suppression of trauma memories and overgeneral memory in 42 assault survivors with and without PTSD. Overgeneral memory (OGM) was assessed with a standard autobiographical memory test (AMT). Participants completed two further AMTs under the instructions to either suppress or not suppress assault memories, in counterbalanced order. Participants with PTSD retrieved fewer and more general memories when following the suppression instruction than participants without PTSD, but not under the control instruction. OGM correlated with PTSD symptom severity, and measures of cognitive avoidance. The results are discussed with reference to current theories of overgeneral memory and its possible relationship with PTSD.