Autobiographical Memory

Question 1

Describe wagenaar- diary study

Answer 1

Record 2 events everyday for 5 years (2400 events)
What where who and when cues
Rated freq of salience, emotional intensity and pleasantness

Test memory over 12 months using cues for recall

Question 2

Findings wagenaar - diary study

Answer 2

Higher recall of events salient at the time for both recent and remote events

Higher recall if event emotionally involving at the time for both recent and remote events

-EVEN IF NO LONGER SALIENT OR EMOTIONALLY INVOLVING -

Question 3

Describe the galton cueing technique (GCT)

Answer 3

Compare mean response time to recall personal memory when exposed to different cue words

acts as an association task

Question 4

robinson 1976 GCT

Answer 4

Cue words either action, object or emotion
Faster to recall specific personal events after action or object cue > emotion cue
Specific autobio memory not typically accessed via emotion associated with - recall linked to way organise and store autobiographical memories
More likely to store autobio in terms of actions/objects?

Question 5

Describe personalised experimental materials

Conway and bekerian 1987 describe

Answer 5

Personal memory Q identify cues for retrieval of specific autobio
Identify 10 general life periods (ie primary school)
List 4-5 general events under each period lasting a few hours to 1-2 months
Give prime word or neutral word the cue and ask to press key if recall personal experience

Question 6

Personalised experimental materials

Conway and bekerian 1987 findings

Answer 6

Reaction time faster when given specific ‘lifetime period’ prime - Only personal primes were found to significantly facilitate memory retrieval
failed to find any prime effects to primes and cues naming activities not directly related to an individual’s personal history

Question 7

Model of autobio memory

Answer 7

ams organised in an interlinked hierachial and flexible system - highlights the relevance of personal info

General theme ie your education
Lifetime period ie primary school
General event ie classroom, sports day
Specific memory with event specific memory ie met Julie, could smell… Heard….

Question 8

How does the autobio model account for the relationship between the self and autobio memory

Answer 8

Highlights relevance of personal info - development of self and autobio thought to develop in parallel or one after the other

Question 9

Autobio memory across lifespan

Rubin et al 1986

Answer 9

49+ years generate autobio in response to Galton word cues and date memories to cues ie age
Plot no memories recalled across life
Childhood amnesia then Recall highest around 15-25
Decline then recency effect

Question 10

Conway et al 2005 reminisceince bump acros cultures

Answer 10

bump occur across cultures (UK USA JAPAN CHINA)
but the type of event recalled is subject to change
collectivist > group memories
individualist > self memories

Question 11

Describe childhood amnesia

Answer 11

Memories as infant likely to be things told and have been repeated/shared with family
Less than 3
Self concept likely to be important in the emergence of autobio memory

Question 12

childhood amnesia and childrens ability to recall
Fivush and Hammond
Sheffield and Hudson 1994
Mcdonagh and Mandler 1994

Answer 12

Fivush and Hammond - 4 year old recall events of when 2.5 years old

Sheffield and Hudson - 2 year olds recall lab study took part in 6m prior

Mcdonagh and Mandler - 2yrs mime recall actions learn when 11m

Although cog skills still developing, amnesia not primarily due to poor encoding as show can remember

Question 13

What do wheeler stuss and tulving 1997 infant AMs

Answer 13

2-3y/os can recall some specific events p to 12m prev
BUT recall argued not to be AM
recollection of factual info

Question 14

When does wheeler stuss and tulving argue self concept begins to emerge and how does it impact autobio

Answer 14

Around 18-24 months

Only sufficiently developed for autobio around 3 years

Question 15

How does our awareness of our physical self develop in infancy

Answer 15

3 m - learn to discriminate facial features from other infants

18m respond to smudge seen in mirror and embarrassed

22-24m say name when see self

Question 16

How does our psychological awareness of self develop in infancy (povinelli and Simon describe)

Answer 16

4-5 NOT 3 show delayed recog of past

1. 3,4&5 years videoed playing game while sticker placed on heads and removed after game
2. Week later play diff game and sicker placed on head
3. Half watch visit 1. Half watch visit 2.

Question 17

How does psychological awareness of self develop (povinelli and Simon results)

Answer 17

Less than 50% of 3years in both sessions reached for sticker

Majority of 4-5years reached for sticker in session 2. But not 1.

Question 18

What does povinelli and Simon results suggest about infant self concept

Answer 18

4 and 5 y/os develop sense of self that develops over time

Understand that “temporary” extended self existing in past and present - could distinguish between the two sessions

Question 19

tulving 1999

Why must autobio memories be linked to a self concept

Answer 19

Autobio memory system of mental time travel through subjective time - individual experience through autonoetic awareness

Without self concept, specific memories are episodic but not autobio

Question 20

define autonoetic awareness

Answer 20

ability to mentally place ourselves in the past, in the future, or in counterfactual situations, and to analyze our own thoughts. Our sense of self affects our behavior, in the present, past and future

Question 21

How is the self thought to link to the cognitive system

self memory system Conway 2005

Answer 21

“Retrieval cycle” - elaborate a cue, activate search for autobio in knowledge base, eval control processess - output then terminate or recycle
recycle = elaboration of info until retrieve specific memory

Question 22

Conway 2004

self memory system describe

Answer 22

retrieval of autobio depend on model in supervisory system of the working self and AM knowledge base (LTM)

self is a complex set of active goals and associated self-images - ‘working self’

relationship between working self and long-term knowledge base is reciprocal, where autobiographical knowledge constrains what the self is, has been, and can be, & the working self-modulates access to long-term knowledge

Question 23

define the working self - Conway

Answer 23

goal management
contains an active goal hierarchy - Concept of self reflects current goals and priorities where current goal is most “active”
- reduce discrepancies between desired goal and current state in regulation of behavior
Create a temporary model of task demands and constraints - retrieve specific memory to cue providing ESK
Therefore autobio are records of success or failure of goal attainment

Question 24

Define the conceptual self - Conway

Answer 24

working self-conceptual knowledge of non temporary conceptual self-structures ie attitudes, values and beliefs.
Exist independent of specific incidents but connected to autobiographical knowledge and the episodic memory system to activate specific instances that exemplify, contextualize, and ground their underlying themes or concepts

Question 25

Describe baddleys working memory model

Answer 25

For binding, coordination, shifting, selective attention and inhibition

Central exec/supervisory system controls the flow of information

Controls flow of slave system info: phonological loop and visuo-spatial sketchpad(STM) and episodic buffer (link info across domains)

Question 26

What is an autobiographical memory

Answer 26

complex memories of events with sig self reference that extends across our lifespan - relate to semantic memory
high self reerence - give feeling of reliving
detailed, vivid and high in imagery

Question 27

Autobio memory in old age

ford et al 2014

Answer 27

overgenerality effect
adults >60y/o retrieve more generalised/ledd specific AMs than younger individuals
presented old and young with musical clips and ask to retrieve assoc ams - manipulating for specific, general or unrestricted memories
young modulate to task demands but not older

Question 28

Abram et al 2014 autobio memory in old age

Answer 28

Lifespan study of 6-81 years

Older recall fewer specific/episodic details and more semantic/conceptual info or traits and general info

Question 29

Retrograde amnesia and autobio memory

Answer 29

Retrograde amnesiacs can reward past but only because told the events that have happened and therefore do not personally recollect the memories in terms of their sensory-perceptual data
AMs likely rely on specific recall of sensory and perceptual data

Question 30

Autobio memory and brain region activation

cabeza et al 2007

Answer 30

AMS relate to areas assoc with visuospatial imagery - posterior brain regions
look at contrast activity when look at pictures self take or others take
observer and field activate episodic memory network - med temp lobe and PFC
self reference processing - mPFC
visuospatial memory- ACC, parahippocampus + EMOTION - amyg
Search and retrieval of autobio - left lateral PFC
Monitoring of autobio - ventromedial PFC
Self - medial PFC

Question 31

AM across individuals

Greenberg and knowlton 2014

Answer 31

Visual imagery assoc with feeling of reliving autobio memories
BUT auditory imagery > than visual imagery in ‘verbalisers’ compared to ‘visualisers’
ALSO test 2 pps with self report absence of visual imagery - lacked auditory and less likely to feel as though reliving memories

Question 32

Define the observer perspective (nigro and neisser 1983)

Answer 32

Seeing a past event and yourself within the event - as though observing self

Question 33

Define field perspective (nigro and neisser 1983)

Answer 33

Seeing event as though looking through own eyes

Question 34

Describe nigro and Neisser 1983 assoc between observer and field perspective in AMS

Answer 34

Recall autobio to cue

52% recall as field 37% recall as observer - 12% neither

Cue vary in emotional intensity and self awareness- field 48% observer 43% and neither 9%

Field more vivid and recalled more recently (15m) than observer (35m)

Emotionally intense and high self awareness = observer

Focus in feelings field 69% > focus on concrete objective details field 54%

Question 35

Mcissac and eich PTSD field observer

Answer 35

Most recall from field 64%

Field more emotional and anxiety provoking

BUT ob and field both maintain image and grew of event recall and richness of detail

Field detail focus on feelings and internal state but ob focus on external - provides relief but may impede LTM

Question 36

Describe cabeza et al photos and self

Answer 36

Contest photos taken by self and by someone else

Both activate episodic memory system - medial temp and PFC

Autobio assoc greater activity in medial PFC (self ref processing), visual and parahoppocampal (visual/spatial memory and hipp (recollection)

Question 37

William Conway and cohen 2008

why do we need autobio memory

Answer 37

directive function
social function
self representative function
cope with adversity

Question 38

William Conway and cohen 2008

directive function of autobio

Answer 38

reflect on what happened/what did last time

Question 39

William Conway and cohen 2008

social function of autobio

Answer 39

reminisce - build bonds with others

Question 40

William Conway and cohen 2008

self representative function of autobio

Answer 40

recog who ou are and your identity

Question 41

William Conway and cohen 2008

cope with adversity in autobio

Answer 41

reflect on past

think of pos events in life

Question 42

problem with diary studies (waagenar)

Answer 42

select events likely to be memorable

retrieval and rehearsal process of writing down could mean that processing atypically

Question 43

brewer 1988 alternative diary study

Answer 43

gave 10 pps beeper and recorder to sample events at random points in day then ask to recall
26% correct
28% incorrect
46% no recall

Question 44

rubin and Bernstein 2003 ams across life and culture

Answer 44

ams we recall are likely to follow culturally accepted “life script” events - events that we expect to occur to us within our lives
79% 10-14y/os predict future using life scripts

Question 45

freud childhood amnesia

Answer 45

gave first account arguing that occurs due to defense mechanisms to protect self from threatening life events
BUT ignores the role of positive>neg experiences

Question 46

howe and courage 1997 ams and infancy

Answer 46

development of ams argued to follow after the development of our sense of self
develop self reflection - provides a new way to form and structure memory

Question 47

field 1979 early infant AM development

Answer 47

3m in mirror exploration look sig longer at self compared to when attend to peers
when attend to peers - vocalise and smile more
ability to discriminate ourselves from those around us at an early age 199

Question 48

nelson and fivush 2004 sociocultural development theory of autobio memory

Answer 48

am develops gradually via social interaction and cog dev
account for culture, gender and indiv diff in formation of ams
incorporate a variety of skills: lang narrative, temporal and self concept, consciousness, social concepts
- threshold barrier overcome around 4-5 that permits gradual increase in autobio recall
as not all or nothing - dependent on emotional salience etc

Question 49

wheeler et al mental time travel and childhood amnesia

Answer 49

cant recall under 3y/o because cant mentally time travel therefore events are factual and not personally experiences

Question 50

define Conway 2005 AM knowledge base

Answer 50

in LTM
represents episodic and AM knowledge in a hierachian structure
retrieval of AM via SS/CE which creates a remp model of task demands and retraints
AMs are records of successes and failures of goal attainment

Question 51

age AM decline and wellbeing

Answer 51

decline of AMs related to dev of depression and reduced wellbeing/satisfaction with life

Question 52

age AM and depression

speer et al 2014

Answer 52

fMRI scan
Enhanced activity in striatum and mPFC assoc w/ increases in positive emotion during recall
striatal engagement correlate w/individual measures of resiliency
Striatal response in recall of positive memories greater in individuals whose mood improved after the task.
recall of pos AMs intrinsically valuable - adaptive for regulating positive emotion and promoting better well-being.

Question 53

chen takahashi and yang 2015

age AM and depression

Answer 53

retrieving positive memories may be a useful strategy in everyday mood regulation for healthy people, but not for people with depression
Patients with depression have difficulty in retrieving positive memories. More fundamentally, in face of positive memories, their dysfunctional reward circuitry may inhibit them from up-regulating positive moods

Question 54

PTSD

Answer 54

post traumatic stress disorder

assoc with feeling of reliving traumatic event

Question 55

mcIssac and eich 2004 PTSD and AMs

Answer 55

most PTSD recall from field (64%) - more emotional and anxiety proviking, greater focus on feeling and internal states
CBT - may be able to train to recall in observer perspective - highlight discrepancy between remembered past and present and accentuates change and prevents traumatic event becoming part of central identity?

Question 56

Finnbogadottir and bernsen 2014

observer perspective and PTSD counterproductive

Answer 56

training observer perspective may function as avoidance

alleviate emotional intensity in ST but maintain disress in LT