Autobiographical Remembering Research Articles

Understanding Autobiographical Memory in the Digital Age: The AMEDIA-Model

Recent technological developments have led to an increased density of recorded life episodes. To understand how creating and sharing such immense amounts of data shapes the way individuals remember their past, we propose a model for autobiographical memory in the digital age (AMEDIA-Model) that systematizes the existing literature and sketches avenues for future research. The model views autobiographical remembering in the digital age as the result of the iterative process of combining information stored in the mind and information stored in the environment using high-tech applications. Moreover, the way autobiographical memories are (re-)constructed crucially depends on the way the information has been encoded and curated: Autobiographical remembering in the digital age is not a uniform process but is fundamentally shaped by the technology and the data that is being used. The AMEDIA-Model offers a framework for understanding technology-mediated human cognition in the twenty-first century.

The Subjective Experience of Autobiographical Remembering: Conceptual and Methodological Advances and Challenges.

The investigation of the phenomenology of autobiographical memories (i.e., how a memory is subjectively experienced and its meaning) has provided an important contribution to our understanding of autobiographical remembering. Over the last two decades, the study of phenomenology has received widespread scientific attention, and the field has undergone quite relevant conceptual and methodological changes. In the present work, we (1) review some basic and well-established research findings and methodological achievements; (2) discuss new theoretical and methodological challenges, with a special focus on the issue of the phenomenological experience of the retrieval process and its relationship with the phenomenology of the products of retrieval; and (3) propose an alternative way of conceptualizing and understanding it in the framework of experimental phenomenology.

Taking stock of the past: A psychometric evaluation of the Autobiographical Interview.

Autobiographical memory (AM) involves a rich phenomenological re-experiencing of a spatio-temporal event from the past, which is challenging to objectively quantify. The Autobiographical Interview (AI; Levine et al. Psychology and Aging, 17(4), 677-689, 2002) is a manualized performance-based assessment designed to quantify episodic (internal) and semantic (external) features of recalled and verbally conveyed prior experiences. The AI has been widely adopted, yet has not undergone a comprehensive psychometric validation. We investigated the reliability, validity, association to individual differences measures, and factor structure in healthy younger and older adults (N = 352). Evidence for the AI's reliability was strong: the subjective scoring protocol showed high inter-rater reliability and previously identified age effects were replicated. Internal consistency across timepoints was robust, suggesting stability in recollection. Central to our validation, internal AI scores were positively correlated with standard, performance-based measures of episodic memory, demonstrating convergent validity. The two-factor structure for the AI was not well supported by confirmatory factor analysis. Adjusting internal and external detail scores for the number of words spoken (detail density) improved trait estimation of AM performance. Overall, the AI demonstrated sound psychometric properties for inquiry into the qualities of autobiographical remembering.

Autobiographical memory in the digital age: Insights based on the subjective reports of users of smart journaling apps

AbstractHumans have long used external memory aids to support remembering. However, modern digital technologies could facilitate recording and remembering personal information in an unprecedented manner. The present research sought to understand the potential impact of these technologies on autobiographical memory based on interviews with users of smart journaling apps. In Study 1 (N = 12), participants who had no prior experience with smart journaling apps tested the app Day One for 2 weeks and were interviewed about their subjective perceptions afterwards. In order to cross‐validate the obtained findings, Study 2 (N = 4) was based on in‐depth interviews with long‐time users of different smart journaling apps. Taken together, the two studies provide insights into the way autobiographical remembering may change in the digital age – but also into the opportunities and risks potentially associated with the use of technologies that allow creating a detailed and multimedia‐based record of one's life.

Personal reminiscence styles and adaptation to bereavement: how meaning mediates their relationship

Objectives Personal reminiscence styles are known to influence a person’s well-being, but research regarding their impact on bereavement outcomes is limited. Based on previous findings, we assumed ruminative and reflective reminiscence styles to be associated with feelings of grief and personal growth, and that meaning-making efforts and the degree of having meaning-made of losing a loved one potentially mediate these relationships. Methods The final study sample consisted of 198 participants aged between18 and 75 years (Mage = 40.58, SD = 39.0), 83.3% were female. In a first step, we ran separate mediation models to examine the associations between reminiscence styles, processes of making meaning of the loss and bereavement. Based on these results, we build a parsimonious, inclusive pathway model. Results Our findings indicate that a ruminative reminiscence style is related to feelings of grief and personal growth through its associations with meaning-made. A reflective reminiscence style, in contrast, is associated with feelings of grief through its relation to meaning-making efforts. Moreover, a reflective reminiscence style is directly related to personal growth. Conclusion Findings are discussed regarding their implications for both areas of research — autobiographical remembering and adaptation to bereavement, as well as their applicability in clinical settings.

Development of a Japanese version of the Autobiographical Recollection Test: convergent validity with self-reported scales and memory details

ABSTRACT While numerous studies have examined the characteristics of specific autobiographical memories, until recently, no questionnaire has asked how individuals remember their past in general. We developed a Japanese version of the Autobiographical Recollection Test (ART), which consists of seven components (vividness, narrative coherence, reliving, rehearsal, scene, visual imagery, and life story relevance) and surveys the general characteristics of autobiographical remembering. Confirmatory factor analysis and item response theory showed that the Japanese version of the ART had sufficient psychometric properties and generally correlated as hypothesised with self-report questionnaires as a measure of convergent validity. While the short version of the Japanese ART correlated positively with the internal details (episodic elements) of autobiographical narratives, the full version did not correlate with internal details. We discuss the use of ART for future research examining individual and cultural differences in autobiographical remembering.

The memories that people would save or erase differ from their most positive and negative memories on function, emotion and correspondence with the life script

ABSTRACT Autobiographical remembering is a dynamic process in which narrators construct their life story from single memories. What is included in or deleted from the life story depends on many factors. Here, we examined the functions, emotions and correspondence with the life script for the memories that people desire to save or erase from their past. We asked people to generate either the two memories they were most likely to save and erase or the two memories they regarded as their most positive and negative memories. Then everyone rated those memories on function, emotion and correspondence with the life script. Overall, we found save and erase memories corresponded less with the life script relative to most positive and most negative memories though they were similarly emotionally intense. Additionally, erase memories were more associated with shame and less with social functions than most negative memories, whereas most negative memories to a higher degree involved the death of significant others, albeit being similarly traumatic. These findings have important implications for theory about autobiographical memory, and possible clinical relevance.

A comparison of memories of fiction and autobiographical memories.

People consume, remember, and discuss not only memories of lived experiences, but also events from works of fiction, such as books, movies, and TV shows. We argue that these memories of fiction represent an important category of event memory, best understood within an autobiographical memory framework. How do fictional events yield psychological realities even when they are known to be invented? We explored this question in three studies by comparing the memory content, phenomenological qualities, and functional roles of naturally occurring personal memories to memories of fiction. In Studies 1 and 2, we characterized the subjective experience of memories of fiction by adapting established measures of autobiographical remembering, such as the Autobiographical Memory Questionnaire (Rubin et al., 2003), Centrality of Event Scale (Berntsen & Rubin, 2006), and items from the Thinking About Life Experiences Scale (Bluck et al., 2005; Pillemer et al., 2015). In Study 3, we investigated similarities and differences in personal memories and memories of fiction for events from childhood or the recent past. In doing so, we observed the impact of a unique property of memories of fiction: their ability to be repeatedly reexperienced in their original form. Taken together, we argue that memories of fiction can be considered similar to other forms of autobiographical remembering and describe a theoretical framework for understanding memories of fiction in the context of other event memories. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Subjective judgments on direct and generative retrieval of autobiographical memory: The role of interoceptive sensibility and emotion.

Autobiographical remembering is a subjective experience, and whether retrieval is perceived to occur through involuntary or voluntary, direct or generative cognitive processes is also based on subjective intuition. The present study examined factors that may contribute to the subjective judgment that occurs when we perceive memories as being retrieved directly (i.e., a memory comes to mind directly and immediately) or through generative processes (i.e., recalling a memory with effort or by using additional information). We examined the hypothesis that internal awareness (interoceptive sensibility and mindfulness traits) contributes to the physical reaction and emotional impact of memories at retrieval, which then influence the subjective judgment that memories are retrieved directly. In two online experiments, participants were asked to recall specific memories following verbal cues and to judge the retrieval process (i.e., direct or generative). We demonstrated that emotional awareness, an interoceptive sensibility scale factor, consistently predicted a high probability of direct retrieval judgments independent of other predictors of direct retrieval, such as retrieval latency and cue concreteness. This effect was especially common for concrete cues. In Experiment 2 we demonstrated that emotional awareness predicted direct retrieval judgments through the mediation of retrieval impact (physical reaction and emotional impact). These results indicate the involvement of interoceptive processing in the direct retrieval of autobiographical memories. We discuss the role of interoception in memory retrieval and present interoceptive prediction error as a novel and potentially integrative account of our findings.

Autobiographical Remembering: Memory as Resitance in Bengali Dalit Women’s Narratives

This paper makes an attempt to explore how the concept of memory works as a tool of resistance in the narratives of the Bengali Dalit women writers in the Partitioned Bengal. The Bengali Dalit women have been marginalized in different ways, and the history of these women has been neglected. But the atma-katha (life-story) of the Bengali Dalit women seeks to question the accepted official historical record of Bengal. In this paper, I propose to examine the narratives of Dr. Puspa Bairagya and Kalyani Thakur Charal which were chiefly produced in the twenty-first century Bengal and were anti-caste narratives and thereby provide an insight into the counter-memories of the Bengali Dalit women. I would like to apply the autobiographical memory theory to the narratives of these writers. My prospective paper endeavors to illuminate personal agency and healing and would hope to generate a new understanding of the texts in the Indian context.

Adaptive and harmful autobiographical remembering after the loss of a loved one

Objectives: Remembering one’s personal past serves psychosocial functions. Adaptive use of autobiographical memory is related to well-being but little research has focused on grief. We address this in two studies theoretically grounded in the model of reminiscence and health. Method: Participants were adults who were actively grieving, and in both studies, completed the Reminiscence Functions Scale and grief-related measures (i.e. feelings of grief, positive changes in life perspective). Study 1 focused on uses for generally recalling one’s past and Study 2 on uses of memories of the deceased. Results: Across studies, self-negative ways of remembering were associated with stronger feelings of grief and also mediated relations between social ways of remembering and grief. Self-positive ways of remembering the deceased (Study 2) were associated with having experienced positive changes in life perspective since the loss. Conclusion: The discussion focuses on how memories of one’s personal past are linked to the experience of loss, even years into bereavement.

Emotionality and Valence in Autobiographical Remembering

Bu derleme çalışması duygu yoğunluğu ve duygu değerliği gibi duygu bileşenlerinin olayların erişilebilirliği ve hatırlama özellikleri çerçevesinde teorik yaklaşımlar ve ampirik bulgular ışığında değerlendirmeye odaklanmaktadır. Bu bağlamda farklı otobiyografik belleğin fenomenolojik özellikleri dışında flaş bellek, travma sonrası stres bozukluğu ve duygudurum bozuklukları ele alınmakta ve duygu bileşenlerinin etkisi davranışsal ve beyin görüntüleme çalışmaları çerçevesinde tartışılmaktadır. Literatürdeki bulgulardan yola çıkarak gelecek çalışmalar için yoğunluk ve değerlik gibi duygu bileşenlerinin otobiyografik hatırlamadaki rolünü açıklayabilecek alternatif bütüncül bir yaklaşım önerilmektedir.

Remembering online and offline: the effects of retrieval contexts, cues, and intervals on autobiographical memory

ABSTRACT The current study examined the impact of social media as a retrieval context (in contrast to private recall) on the retention of autobiographical memory. At session 1, participants (N = 177) generated recent life events in response to cue words and then described the event details as if they were writing about the events either on WeChat or in their diaries. They received a surprise memory test for the events at session 2 either one week or two weeks later, either with or without the original cue words. Participants in the WeChat condition recalled less consistent memories between the two sessions than those in the diary condition, especially when the memory test took place at the one-week interval and when there were no cues to assist recall at the two-week interval. It appears that memories recalled on social media are subject to greater reconstruction in subsequent offline recall, and that the timing of recall and the presence of memory cues interact with the reconstructive process. These findings shed new light on autobiographical remembering in the digital age.

Replicating autobiographical memory research using social media: a case study

ABSTRACT The durability of memories for personally experienced events and the effectiveness of naturalistically generated cues of those events were investigated via a case study using Timehop to re-present information from Facebook, Twitter, and the iPhone photograph archive from the past six years to generate autobiographical memories. Replicating prior longitudinal self-studies of remembering, recency predicted successful recall of specific events. Prior research showing images to be more evocative of autobiographical remembering than text was also replicated here. Results also supported claims that direct retrieval is a common mode of remembering. Somewhat surprisingly, retrieval of autobiographical memories had little influence on ongoing affect, cognition, and behaviour. This is suggested as “proof of concept” that social media data allows for modern replication of diary-type studies and expansion beyond typical participant pools. The interrelated functions of social media for remembering and of autobiographical remembering to social media can also be explored with this method.

Ethnic Group Differences in Autobiographical Memory Characteristics: Values as a Mediator or Moderator?

Individual-level values play a role in cultural group differences in autobiographical memory. The current study (N = 192) used a Caribbean sample to examine whether individual-level values (self-transcendence, self-enhancement, conservation) were a mediator or moderator of ethnic group differences (Afro-, Indo-, and Mixed-Trinidadian) in the characteristics (emotional intensity, vividness, thinking and talking about the memory) of positive autobiographical memories. Values were not a mediator, but were a moderator. At high levels of conservation or self-transcendence values, Indo-Trinidadians had autobiographical memories that were more emotionally intense, vivid, and thought and talked about compared to Afro-Trinidadians. Mixed-Trinidadians had autobiographical memories that were more emotionally intense than the other ethnic groups, in general, and more often talked about when self-enhancement values were low. The discussion proposes that the alignment of individual-level values with cultural-group expectations matters for autobiographical remembering, suggests that sociohistorical circumstance may play a role, and addresses the study limitations.

Framing the past (and future): Effects of generic photos on autobiographical judgments.

Do the images we see every day influence how we remember our lives? Research on this matter often concerns how entire memories of events can be created or shaped through the use of doctored photographs of personal (Wade et al., Psychonomic bulletin & review, 9 (3), 597-603, 2002) and public events (Sacchi et al., Applied Cognitive Psychology, 21 (8), 1005-1022, 2007). Although this paradigm has yielded insights into false memory production, it may underestimate the extent to which photographs can bias or distort memory in a subtler manner (i.e., without the use of doctored photographs or suggestion). In Experiments 1 (N = 95) and 2 (N = 186) of the present study, we examined whether the mere presence of generic images, typical of stock photography, could influence aspects of our memories. Given the parallel between autobiographical remembering and forecasting (Berntsen & Bohn, Memory & Cognition, 38(3), 265-278, 2010), we also examined (Experiment 3: N=204) how such images would influence future autobiographical judgments. Specifically, three experiments investigated whether photographs would bias autobiographical judgments for either quantitative (e.g., How many movies have you seen in the past year?) or affective (e.g., How enjoyable do you think your next date will be?) aspects of events in everyday life. We found that photographs reliably influenced judgments related to quantitative aspects of autobiographical events. Moreover, though less robustly, there was an indication that these photos could bias our affective construal of such events as well. Overall, we conclude that the mere presence of generic photographs may exert an influence on the way we think about our lives to an extent previously under-recognized.

A Micro-Analytic Approach to Parent-Child Reminiscing

The reminiscing literature has for decades highlighted the positive effect of the high elaborative reminiscing style on children’s autobiographical memory. However, very little is known about the direct, reciprocal influences of parents’ and children’s utterances on each other. Using a micro-analytic approach, the current study aimed to investigate a) how likely children were to provide memory information directly following parental elaborative, repetitive, and confirming utterance types, and b) how likely parents were to respond to children’s memory information and verbal placeholders with elaborations, repetitions, and confirmations. Eighty-eight (N = 88) mothers and fathers participated in the study with their 4-year-old children. The micro-analyses revealed that children were most likely to provide memory information directly following parental open-ended elaborative and repetitive questions, and positive confirmations. Thus, through their open-ended questions and confirmations parents promoted the reciprocal, joint process of remembering which appeared highly facilitative of children’s autobiographical remembering.

Maladaptive Use of Autobiographical Memory by Bereaved Individuals Across Adulthood

Remembering one’s personal past can serve adaptive psychosocial functions (Bluck, Alea, & Demiray, 2010). Autobiographical remembering has been related to well-being in older age but little research has focused on grief. We address this issue in two studies grounded in the model of reminiscence and health in older adulthood (Cappeliez & O’Rourke, 2006). Participants (aged 18 - 91) completed the Reminiscence Functions Scale and the Inventory of Complicated Grief. Regression analyses show that negative self-related use of memories, but not positive use, is associated with experiencing more grief. Sharing memories with others (pro-social function) is indirectly linked to grief, as mediated by negative self-related uses. These patterns held for autobiographical recall in general (Study 1; N = 51) and when specifically remembering the deceased person (Study 2; N = 49). How adaptively individuals remember their personal past appears linked to the experience of grief, sometimes even years after the loss.

Priming autobiographical memories: How recalling the past may affect everyday forms of autobiographical remembering.

This study investigated the idea that when one recalls past episodes, that the content of those memories will activate additional episodic memories with like content, and such memories will then have the potential of surfacing in subsequent acts of involuntary and voluntary recall. We tested the episodic content priming hypothesis in two experiments. In Experiment 1, priming group participants first recalled memories about specific activities or events and then they were subsequently engaged in a word-cue voluntary autobiographical memory task. The results showed that priming group participants produced more episodic memories involving the primed content on this task than control participants occupied in the same task. In Experiment 2, episodic content priming was further tested on a measure of involuntary autobiographical memory (i.e., the vigilance task). The results on this task also revealed support for the episodic content priming hypothesis, including after a delay of 24h.

The acquisition of the cultural life script: children have a less normative and less sequential concept of the life course than adults

ABSTRACT Autobiographical remembering develops in childhood. A late-developing cognitive tool is the cultural life script. The present study aimed at exploring the beginnings of its acquisition and at replicating its acquisition in early adolescence in a Southern-European culture. Study 1 established the Portuguese normative adult cultural life script, against which the cultural life scripts provided by 6- to 16-year-olds could be compared in Study 2. The acquisition of the cultural life script in early to mid-adolescence was confirmed with multiple indicators. In 6- to 8-year olds, life script knowledge was only rudimentary. However, children still agreed highly on a set of mostly non-normative life events which they named as typical for a normal life that are not part of the adult life script. We conclude that children’s non-normative concept of life is less helpful for remembering, narrating, and planning a life than is the adult cultural life script with normative events.