1. c. 2008 Pearson Allyn & Bacon Remembering the Personal Past Chapter 8

2. c. 2008 Pearson Allyn & Bacon Everyday Memory Overview There has been a recent emphasis on the study of memory in everyday contexts An increase in ecological validity Critics worry about sufficient controls; attempt to focus on simpler questions

3. c. 2008 Pearson Allyn & Bacon Autobiographical Memory Overview Autobiographical Memory : Memory for a specific life experience Autobiographical Fact General (context-free) knowledge about oneself and one’s personal history

4. c. 2008 Pearson Allyn & Bacon Autobiographical Memory Methods of Investigation Targeted Event Recall Subjects recall particular events or life periods Diary Technique Subjects keep track of daily events; Allows for assessment of memory accuracy Cue-Word Technique Memories generated in response to word cues Allows for assessment of autobiographical retention function

5. c. 2008 Pearson Allyn & Bacon Autobiographical Memory Autobiographical Retention Function Lifespan recall of autobiographical memories reveals a consistent pattern Features: Forgetting curve Reminiscence Bump Childhood Amnesia

6. c. 2008 Pearson Allyn & Bacon Autobiographical Retention Function Childhood Amnesia Childhood amnesia refers to a relative paucity of memories from early childhood Virtually no memories from prior to age 3 or 4 Usher and Neisser (1993) had subjects recall events that could be corroborated Varying patterns as a function of event

7. c. 2008 Pearson Allyn & Bacon Autobiographical Retention Function Childhood Amnesia Possible reasons for childhood amnesia: Brain development Declarative memory (basis for episodic memory) slow to develop, relative to procedural Doesn’t account for finding that episodic memories can be formed well before age 3-4

8. c. 2008 Pearson Allyn & Bacon Autobiographical Retention Function Childhood Amnesia Possible reasons for childhood amnesia: Development of Language Remembering personal past depends on ability to converse with others about it Development of Self Remembering personal past depends on the knowledge that one has unique set of experiences

9. c. 2008 Pearson Allyn & Bacon Autobiographical Retention Function Childhood Amnesia Social-Cognitive Development Nelson & Fivush emphasize the gradual emergence of autobiographical memory Emergence depends upon memory talk, a developing sense of time and “theory of mind” Emergence of autobiographical memory will vary across individuals and cultures as a function of these variables.

10. c. 2008 Pearson Allyn & Bacon Autobiographical Retention Function Reminiscence Bump Autobiographical retention function features disproportionate recall from ages 15-35. A “reminiscence bump” Accounts of the reminiscence bump: Important and distinctive events, often-rehearsed Peak brain functioning occurs in early adulthood Identity formation occurs

11. c. 2008 Pearson Allyn & Bacon Autobiographical Retention Function Forgetting Retention function reveals a standard forgetting function for recent events Forgetting due to event similarity and interference Lack of distinctiveness

12. c. 2008 Pearson Allyn & Bacon Autobiographical Memory Retrieval Factors Encoding specificity in autobiographical memory Cues for personal memories will be more effective to the degree that they provide overlap with encoding circumstances Marian and Neisser (2000) investigated autobiographical memory in Russian-English bilinguals

13. c. 2008 Pearson Allyn & Bacon Gave subjects cue words in one of their 2 languages Memory retrieved tended to match language of cue In a second study, varied both interview language and cue word language Interview language was the more powerful cue Autobiographical Memory Retrieval Factors

14. c. 2008 Pearson Allyn & Bacon Autobiographical Memory Retrieval Factors Wagenaar (1986) and Brewer (1986) investigated “W” cues for autobiographical memory “What” – activity cues; most effective “Where” – location cues “When” – time cues “Who” – people cues Odors tend to be effective cues for personal memories Proust phenomenon: the apparent power of odors to elicit memories that are especially old and vivid

15. c. 2008 Pearson Allyn & Bacon Autobiographical Memory Self-Memory System Conway and colleagues propose a self-memory system Autobiographical memories as constructed from personal knowledge base with three levels Lifetime Periods General Events Event-Specific Knowledge Particular construction depends on plans and goals

16. c. 2008 Pearson Allyn & Bacon Autobiographical Memory Involuntary Memories Many autobiographical memories occur spontaneously, in the absence of an explicit cue Relative to voluntary memories, involuntary memories are more likely to be: For specific rather than general events For positive events rather than negative events (a Pollyanna Effect) For recent events Associated with a vivid “re-living”

17. c. 2008 Pearson Allyn & Bacon Autobiographical Memory Emotion and Autobiographical Memory Flashbulb Memory a detailed, vivid, and confidently held memory for the circumstances surrounding when you heard some startling bit of news They typically contain five components Location Activity Source Emotion Aftermath

18. c. 2008 Pearson Allyn & Bacon Emotion and Autobiographical Memory Flashbulb Memory What produces a flashbulb memory? Special physiological mechanism? Not likely: flashbulb errors can include (serious) inaccuracies Neisser and Harsch studied flashbulb memories for the 1986 Challenger disaster “Phantom flashbulbs” Distortions revealed TV priority and time-slice errors.

19. c. 2008 Pearson Allyn & Bacon Emotion and Autobiographical Memory Flashbulb Memory Vividness of flashbulb memories is most likely due to: Distinctiveness Rehearsal Personal Salience Emotion Memories for September 11 attacks Pezdek (2004) investigated flashbulb memory in subjects differing in proximity to the attacks

20. c. 2008 Pearson Allyn & Bacon Emotion and Autobiographical Memory Flashbulb Memory Pezdek (2004) compared New Yorkers and non- New Yorkers on two types of memory Event memory – Aspects of the actual event Autobiographical memory – How a person learned about the event Found that stress enhanced memory for aspects of event being closely monitored New Yorkers: The event itself Non-New Yorkers: How they heard about the event

21. c. 2008 Pearson Allyn & Bacon Emotion and Autobiographical Memory Mood and Autobiographical Memory Mood-Dependent Memory Retrieval of a previously encoded event is enhanced when the mood experienced at retrieval matches the mood present at encoding Depressed individuals are more likely to retrieve negative memories Tendency is to recall overly general memories Obstructs problem solving?

22. c. 2008 Pearson Allyn & Bacon Autobiographical Memory Functions of Autobiographical Memory Autobiographical remembering serves a number of important functions : Communicative Offer a greater sense of intimacy and connection Emotional Helps us think through life problems Directive Can serve to guide future life course