Graphanalysis, Technological Reproduction, and the Acoustical Unconscious: Reflections on an Error in Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape

Although the explicit attitudes of Chinese people toward the self over time are known (i.e., past = present < future), little is known about their implicit attitudes. Two studies were conducted to measure the implicit subjective temporal trajectory (STT) of Chinese undergraduates. Study 1 used a Go/No-go association task to measure participants’ implicit attitudes toward their past, present, and future selves. The obtained implicit STT was different from the explicit pattern found in former research. It showed that the future self was viewed to be identical to the present self and participants implicitly evaluated their present self as better than the past self. Since this comparison of the past and present selves suggested a cultural difference, we aimed to replicate this finding in Study 2. Using an implicit association test, we again found that the present self was more easily associated with positive valence than the past self. Overall, both studies reveal an implicitly inclining-flat STT (i.e., past < present = future) for Chinese undergraduates. Implications of this difference in explicit-implicit measures and the cultural differences of temporal self appraisals are discussed.

The present research examined how nostalgia influences temporal self-appraisals and whether those appraisals relate to current mood. Across two studies, participants recalled either an ordinary or nostalgic memory and provided appraisals of their present and past selves. Participants who recalled nostalgic memories evaluated their past selves more positively than their present selves, whereas the reverse occurred for those who recalled ordinary memories. Those who recalled a positive future event also evaluated their future selves more positively than their present selves. Nostalgia simultaneously enhanced positive mood by heightening favorable evaluations of past selves and diminished positive mood by heightening unfavorable evaluations of present selves. The current work supports a temporal-selves framework that allows for a more nuanced portrait of the nostalgic experience.

The processing of personal changes across time and the ability to differentiate between representations of present and past selves are crucial for developing a mature sense of identity. In this study, we explored the neural correlates of self-reflection across time using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). College undergraduates were asked to reflect on their own psychological characteristics and those of an intimate other, for both the present time period (i.e. at college) and a past time period (i.e. high school years) that involved significant personal changes. Cortical midline structures (CMS) were commonly recruited by the four reflective tasks (reflecting on the present self, past self, present other and past other), relative to a control condition (making valence judgments). More importantly, however, the degree of activity in CMS also varied significantly according to the target of reflection, with the ventral and dorsal medial prefrontal cortex and the posterior cingulate cortex being more recruited when reflecting on the present self than when reflecting on the past self or when reflecting on the other person. These findings suggest that CMS may contribute to differentiate between representations of present and past selves.

Temporal self appraisal and continuous identity: Associations with depression and hopelessness

Negativity bias of the self across time: An event-related potentials study

Recent functional neuroimaging studies have shown that reflecting on representations of the present self versus temporally distant selves is associated with higher activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC). In the current fMRI study, we investigated whether this effect of temporal perspective is symmetrical between the past and future. The main results revealed that the MPFC showed higher activity when reflecting on the present self than when reflecting on past and future selves, with no difference between past and future selves. Temporal perspective also modulated activity in the right inferior parietal cortex but in the opposite direction, activity in this brain region being higher when reflecting on past and future selves relative to the present self (with again no difference between past and future selves). These findings show that differences in brain activity when thinking about current versus temporally distant selves are symmetrical between the past and the future. It is suggested that by processing degrees of self-relatedness, the MPFC might sustain the process of identifying oneself with current representations of the self, whereas the right inferior parietal cortex might be involved in distinguishing the present self from temporally distant selves.

Research in the past 2 decades has made great strides in understanding cross-cultural differences in the correlates and causes of subjective well-being. On the basis of past findings on the cross-cultural differences in temporal perspectives of the self, the present research examined a cross-cultural difference in individuals' subjective well-being as a function of how positively they viewed their present and past selves. Study 1 showed that both European and Asian Americans had higher subjective well-being when they viewed their present selves more positively. However, positive evaluations of the past self were accompanied by higher subjective well-being only among Asian Americans. Study 2 showed that when induced to think positively (vs. negatively) of the present self, both European and Asian Americans judged their current lives more favorably. However, when led to view the past self positively (vs. negatively), only Asian Americans made more favorable judgments about their current lives.

Children's and adolescents' projections of the self into the future and memories of the self in the past were compared with their current self‐conceptions. In Study 1, 82 children and adolescents between the ages of 4 and 15 were asked to describe themselves and to describe themselves as they thought they would be in five years. The results indicated that, at all ages, subjects were more likely to think of their current selves than their future selves in terms of typical activities, personality characteristics and preferences. The future self was more likely to be described in terms of social relationships than the current self. In Study 2, perceptions of change and continuity in the self were examined by asking 88 children and adolescents between the ages of 9 and 18 to describe themselves as they were two and four years in the past, as they are now, and as they will be two and four years in the future. Subjects also estimated the similarity between their present selves and their past and future selves. Similarity between the present self and future selves was perceived to be higher than between past and present selves. Children and adolescents assert that with time they become more capable and physically attractive, develop better personalities and mature intellectually and emotionally, while simultaneously shedding undesirable personality, cognitive and emotional characteristics. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for personal narratives and social cognitive approaches to personality.

The self-face has a prioritized status in the processing of incoming visual inputs. As the self-face changes over the lifespan, this stimulus seems to be well-suited for investigation of the self across time. Here, steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEP, oscillatory responses to periodic stimulation with a frequency that mirrors the frequency of stimulation) were used to investigate this topic. Different types of faces (present self, past self, close-other’s, unknown, scrambled) flickered four times per second in two types of stimulation (‘identical’, with the same image of a given type of face; ‘different’, with different images of the same type of face). Each of the 10 stimulation sessions lasted 90 seconds and was repeated three times. EEG data were recorded and analyzed in 20 participants. In general, faces evoked higher SSVEP than scrambled faces. The impact of identical and different stimulation was similar for faces and scrambled faces: SSVEP to different stimuli (faces, scrambled faces) was enhanced in comparison to identical ones. Present self-faces evoked higher SSVEP responses than past self-faces in the different stimulation condition only. Thus, our results showed that the physical aspects of the present and past selves are differentiated on the neural level in the absence of an overt behavior.

Previous studies indicate that autobiographical memory is impaired in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Successful recollection of information referring to one’s own person requires the intact ability to re-activate representation of the past self. In the current fMRI study we investigated process of conscious reflection on the present self, the past self, and a close-other in the ASD and typically developing groups. Significant inter-group differences were found in the Past-Self condition. In individuals with ASD, reflection on the past self was associated with additional engagement of the posterior cingulate and posterior temporal structures. We hypothesize that this enhanced activation of widely distributed neural network reflects substantial difficulties in processes of reflection on one’s own person in the past.

Flexible learning options (FLOs) that provide access to secondary education for marginalised students tend to sit on the margins of education systems, resulting in pressure to account for their outcomes. This paper employs a conceptual framework based on possible selves theory applied to interview data with students and staff from eight Australian FLOs. Students’ past selves were strongly shaped by adversity in their social environments and in their prior school experiences. Based on these past selves, students’ imagined possible selves included feared possible selves, which were considered to be likely outcomes if the FLO had not existed. In contrast, FLOs helped students to develop positive present selves as well as imagine, and work towards, hoped-for possible selves, especially in terms of education and employment. Tracing the trajectory from past to present and future possible selves provides a fruitful alternative lens for assessing outcomes from FLOs.

Self-continuity is the subjective sense of connection between one's past and present selves (past-present self-continuity), between one's present and future selves (present-future self-continuity), or among one's past, present, and future selves (global self-continuity). We consider the motivational character of the three forms of self-continuity, their regulatory properties, and the internal or external factors that consolidate them. We also review their consequences for attitudes and judgments or decisions, motivation, intentions and behavior, and psychological and physical health. We further detail the psychological and behavioral benefits of self-discontinuity (i.e., a sense of disconnect among temporal selves). We next turn to the brain regions that are activated synchronously with self-continuity. We consider developmental perspectives on self-continuity, discuss collective self-continuity (along with its consequences and regulatory properties), and elaborate on cultural differences in self-continuity. This inaugural Annual Reviews chapter demonstrates the breadth, excitement, and sense of synergy among self-continuity researchers and points to promising research directions.

Janet Gunn in Autobiography and James Olney in Metaphors of Self argue that writers of autobiography portray their past selves in terms of current perspectives, creating versions of the past to fit current beliefs, attitudes, and selfconcepts. As David Rubin's memory research indicates, writers selectively recall those aspects of past experience that best fit their current sense of self. Autobiography writers therefore portray both past and present selves: past selves that fit their current perspectives, and present selves implied by their selection of aspects of past experience. By adopting the past point of view, writers can also create a tension between their past and present perspectives, perspectives representing differences in beliefs, self-concept, and levels of cognitive and social development. As writers' perspectives change, their portrayals of past experiences in autobiography may also change. For example, an adult's portrayal of a first attempt to ride a bike may differ considerably from a version of that same event written by a thirteen-year-old, reflecting differences in maturity, self-concept, and knowledge about the world. In addition to these general developmental differences, English teachers have acquired special knowledge about literature and writing that shapes their expectations as to what constitutes effective autobiographical writing. In order to respond effectively to their students' autobiographical narratives, college teachers need to appreciate the differences between their own and their students' perspectives. For example, because they have experienced fewer developmental shifts in their lives, students may be less able than their teachers to distinguish between their past and present perspectives and beliefs. Because they may be less able to define their past beliefs, they may have difficulty using concrete, descriptive details to portray the nature of those beliefs. What, then, are some of the developmental differences between English teachers and their adolescent students? And, how are these differences reflected in their writing of autobiographical narratives? Social cognitive devel-

Multimedia texts are gaining more footing in the Asian American literary world, especially following Theresa Hak Kyung Cha’s pre-eminent Dictee (1982). While lesser known, Mary-Kim Arnold’s Litany for the Long Moment (2018) is a highly referential lyric essay that employs visual elements, including personal ephemera, to consider the unrelenting complexities of Asian American identity. Analyzing Arnold’s formal intervention into Asian American literature through Francesca Woodman’s photography and Roland Barthes’ photography theory reveals that visual subjects are evasive and unknowable. Paradoxically, memorabilia has the power to rupture linear notions of time and cast into doubt what we know about past and present selves. Arnold’s engagement with the visual also extends to the body, and throughout the text she unsettles hegemonic constructions of gender and racial signification. Ultimately, an analysis of Litany for the Long Moment reveals that visual subjects rupture the concept of a stable self. Throughout this thesis, I draw from the fields of photography, poststructuralism, and critical race studies to argue that visual representation is not a sufficient mode of racial empowerment. Building off of Arnold’s claims about “writing into the rupture,” lack is not a closure, but an opening through which we can interrogate what it means to be a self.

This oral presentation aims to illustrates a local validation of a recently developed measure of future-self-continuity, the Future Self Continuity Questionnaire (FSCQ). Self-continuity is the sense of psychological connection between the past self, the present self and the future self, in the dimension of time (Chandler, 1994). Rutchick et al. (2018) propose that when people feel a greater sense of continuity between their present and future selves, their decision making may be more influenced by thoughts of their future self. The study will recruit at least 200 participants to fill out a series of questionnaires related to future self-continuity, including the Future Self-Continuity Scale (FSCS), Consideration of Future Consequences-14 Scale (CFC-14), Multidimensional Temporal Self-Continuity Scale (MTSCS), and Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS). The higher degree people's future self-continuity (according to the FSCQ), the more likely they are to associate their future self with their past/present self (as measured by FSCS and MTSCS). This inclination also tends to result in a greater consideration for the future consequences of their actions (as measured by the CFC), and potentially corresponds with a lower degree of hopelessness (as measured by BHS). Analyses will include item analyses, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to examine the factorial structure of the questionnaire, alongside assessments of internal consistency and test-retest reliability.