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Comparing music- and food-evoked autobiographical memories in young and older adults: A diary study |
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| Authors: | Kelly Jakubowski Amy M. Belfi Lia Kvavilashvili Abbigail Ely Mark Gill Gemma Herbert |
| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Music, Durham University, Durham, UK;2. Department of Psychological Science, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, Missouri, USA Contribution: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Methodology, Project administration, Supervision, Writing - review & editing;3. Department of Psychology, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK Contribution: Conceptualization, Methodology, Resources, Supervision, Writing - review & editing;4. Department of Psychological Science, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, Missouri, USA Contribution: Data curation, Investigation, Methodology, Writing - review & editing;5. Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, UK Contribution: Data curation, Investigation, Methodology, Writing - review & editing |
| Abstract: | Previous research has found that music brings back more vivid and emotional autobiographical memories than various other retrieval cues. However, such studies have often been low in ecological validity and constrained by relatively limited cue selection and predominantly young adult samples. Here, we compared music to food as cues for autobiographical memories in everyday life in young and older adults. In two separate four-day periods, 39 younger (ages 18–34) and 39 older (ages 60–77) adults recorded their music- and food-evoked autobiographical memories in paper diaries. Across both age groups, music triggered more frequent autobiographical memories, a greater proportion of involuntary memories, and memories rated as more personally important in comparison to food cues. Age differences impacted music- and food-evoked memories similarly, with older adults consistently recalling older and less specific memories, which they rated as more positive, vivid, and rehearsed. However, young and older adults did not differ in the number or involuntary nature of their recorded memories. This work represents an important step in understanding the phenomenology of naturally occurring music-evoked autobiographical memories across adulthood and provides new insights into how and why music may be a more effective trigger for personally valued memories than certain other everyday cues. |
| Keywords: | ageing autobiographical memory diary methods involuntary memory music-evoked autobiographical memory retrieval cues |