ABSTRACT Autobiographical remembering plays a crucial role in regulating emotions, yet how the retrieval perspective modulates this function across discrete negative emotions remains unclear. Building on research showing that field and observer perspectives influence memory phenomenology, the present study examined how visual perspective and retrieval goals regulate anger and shame. In two experiments, participants recalled anger- or shame-related autobiographical events from either a field or observer perspective. In Study 1, they engaged in spontaneous subsequent recall, whereas in Study 2, they were instructed to recall a positive memory. Across both studies, participants tended to recall more positive memories after negative ones, supporting mood-incongruent recall and the automatic activation of mnemonic emotion regulation. Instructed recall further enhanced this positivity bias, increasing the vividness and emotional intensity of retrieved memories. The observer perspective was more effective at dampening the emotional impact of anger, whereas the field perspective amplified reliving across both emotions. Overall, findings suggest that memory-based emotion regulation operates through both automatic (Study 1) and goal-directed (Study 2) mechanisms, shaped by the emotional content of memories and the phenomenological characteristics of recall.

ABSTRACT Several studies have reported that it is relatively easy to manipulate the age of people’s earliest memory through providing priming information or warm-up questions prior to recall. When given primes that differ (e.g. ages 2/3 versus 6), the memories participants retrieved were dated earlier when given early primes and later when given late primes. One proposed explanation is that differential primes foster memory retrieval from different ages. Here we explored whether the memories themselves were from earlier versus later in a person's life chronology, or whether all that was manipulated is the dating information attached to those memories. To do this, 200 young adults were informed that earliest memories typically date from either age 2 or 4, and given example vignettes. Participants then recalled and dated their earliest memory. Independent verification and dating was provided by 117 parents and data for the remaining 83 were imputed. Results showed that participants given earlier primes dated their first memory to younger ages than did participants given later primes, consistent with prior research. However, the ages of the memories did not differ between groups according to parental information. Thus, what is manipulated may only be the attached time-tags for the memories.

ABSTRACT Multiple possibilities can be constructed in mental time travel into the past or future. This study examined how considering alternative outcomes (“be better/worse”) influences the phenomenological characteristics of remembering and imagining, assessed through participant ratings and content analysis. College students (N = 136) reported positive and negative personal events and possible future events. Prior to reporting their selected events, participants were randomly assigned to imagine events to be better, worse, or a control condition. Contemplating any alternative outcome reduced phenomenological ratings relative to the control condition. Event valence and temporal directions continued to play important roles in phenomenological characteristics. These findings provide insights into the adaptive function of mental time travel.

ABSTRACT People form structured memories from continuous experiences through event segmentation, a process often triggered by contextual changes that demarcate the boundaries between events. Event boundaries have been linked with changes in subjective time perception and memory. To expand this finding to spatial navigation, we explored the effects of spatial boundaries on time perception and memory using a virtual “doorway effect”. Participants were asked to find and pick up objects in three virtual environments: confined (only one room), duplicated (multiple identical rooms), and novel (multiple unique rooms). This design allowed us to test whether the mere instability of moving between rooms (i.e., duplicated) was enough to alter subjective time, or if unpredictable contextual changes (i.e., novel) were necessary. We found that subjective time intervals between items and across the entire route were perceived as shorter, and the temporal order between sequential items was remembered better in the absence of boundaries. Additionally, the findings suggest that unpredictability alone does not significantly affect memory, at least when contextual changes are incidental. Instead, contextual instability and unpredictability typically work together to account for the effects of spatial boundaries on memory. We consider how these results may be applied to time estimation during COVID-19 confinement.

ABSTRACT Aversive mental images occur across psychological disorders. Images related to the deceased and the loss can also develop after the death of a close person and seem related to prolonged grief. The present study investigated the content and characteristics of grief-related mental images and tested hypotheses regarding their associations with prolonged grief symptoms (PGS) and negative grief cognitions. Bereaved participants (N = 261) completed an online mental images questionnaire and measures of PGS and negative grief cognitions. Data were analyzed using hierarchical regression analyses and group comparisons, alongside a thematic analysis of image descriptions. More frequent and more uncontrollable mental images were associated with higher levels of PGS and higher endorsement of different domains of negative grief cognitions. Image specificity was unrelated to PGS levels. The qualitative analysis resulted in 12 distinct image themes that differed in frequency, uncontrollability, fantasy content, and emotional responses. Associations with PGS and endorsement of negative grief cognitions related to life and the future also differed for the distinct themes. Because the design precludes conclusions about causality, longitudinal studies need to clarify how such images relate to PGS development and maintenance. Imagery-focused interventions may be a promising treatment approach for PGS.

ABSTRACT In everyday conversations, other people tell us memories about events they experienced, and this can support vicarious learning and decision making. However, memories are not always true or faithful to what really happened. We assessed whether the richness of perceptual and contextual details in episodic autobiographical memories influenced how individuals rated the degree of veracity and fidelity of others’ memory and whether these interpersonal memory monitoring ratings were associated with social attitude towards the narrator. The results showed that raters judged narrators as having more accurate and faithful memories of past events when their recollections were richly detailed than when their memories lacked detail. Moreover, higher interpersonal memory monitoring judgments were associated with more trust and empathy felt towards the narrator and more willingness to interact with them, suggesting a role for interpersonal memory monitoring in social bonding.

ABSTRACT Although forgiveness can help overcome negative emotions and restore social relationships, the mnemonic mechanisms involved remain poorly understood. Recent evidence supports the emotional fading account, which posits that emotional responses associated with the retrieval of autobiographical memories of forgiven wrongdoings decrease relative to not-forgiven ones, while there is no difference in episodic details. We examined how interpersonal closeness between victim and perpetrator and the severity of the wrongdoing influence the recollective experience of forgiven versus not-forgiven events, and the interpersonal motivations toward the perpetrator. Across two studies (N = 1,007), participants recalled forgiven wrongs as less negative and emotionally intense than not-forgiven ones, regardless of closeness or severity. However, there were no differences in episodic detail or in the remembered emotion at the time of the event. We also found that forgiveness was related to interpersonal motivations, such as avoidance and benevolence, more strongly in close relationships and in response to high-severity wrongdoings. These findings extend prior work by showing that, compared to not-forgiven wrongs, forgiven wrongs elicit attenuated affective responses during retrieval across levels of closeness and severity, while there is no difference in episodic details. They also highlight the role of closeness and transgression severity in shaping interpersonal motivations.

ABSTRACT Researchers have suggested that interoception can trigger the retrieval of autobiographical memories or influence the subjective sense of retrieval mode (e.g., involuntary or voluntary). This study examined whether four sessions of mindfulness training, aimed at improving interoceptive processing over eight weeks, can alter autobiographical memory retrieval and perceived retrieval mode in a community sample. 26 participants in the mindfulness group and 30 participants in the waitlist control group completed the study (Mage = 34.80 ± 12.68). In the mindfulness group, participants showed a decrease in perceived retrieval suddenness and an increase in perceived retrieval effort for involuntary memories, and an increase in perceived generative retrieval for voluntary memories. Retrieval latency, frequency, and memory specificity did not change with training. Although heart rate acceleration was observed immediately before memory responses judged as being directly retrieved, this physiological response remained unchanged with training. Reported interoceptive sensibility and dispositional mindfulness increased significantly in the mindfulness group over time, but these changes did not predict changes in retrieval mode variables. The results suggest that mindfulness training leads to more deliberate, effortful memory retrieval, but changes in interoceptive processing may not support changes in retrieval. Clinical implications for reducing intrusive memory and its emotional impact are discussed.

Abstract This chapter examines the mechanisms of memory, focusing on forgetting, distortions, and the impact of emotional events. It presents two views on forgetting: decay, where memories fade over time, and interference, where similar memories disrupt retrieval. The chapter explores flashbulb memories, which are vivid recollections of significant events, and the reminiscence bump, where people tend to remember events from their adolescence more clearly. It also discusses how existing knowledge and schemata influence memory, potentially leading to errors. Finally, the chapter addresses the misinformation effect and its implications for eyewitness testimony and the creation of false memories.

Abstract This chapter focuses on memory impairment, particularly amnesia caused by brain injury. It distinguishes between anterograde amnesia, which affects the ability to form new memories, and retrograde amnesia, which involves the loss of pre-existing memories. The hippocampus plays a critical role in memory consolidation, and its damage leads to significant impairments, as seen in patients like HM and NA. The chapter also explores psychogenic amnesia, including dissociative states such as fugue and multiple personality disorder. Finally, it highlights the importance of brain imaging and clinical assessments in diagnosing and understanding memory disorders.