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Cognition > Autobiographical memory > Flashcards

Autobiographical memory Flashcards

1
Q

To whom/what does autobiographical memory refer to?

A

Refers to the self (self-reference)

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2
Q

What is autobiographical memory?

A

Memory of remembering/re-living an event

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3
Q

What sort of features do autobiographical memories contain?

A

High in imagery

Contain perceptual & sensory features

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4
Q

What types of events are most likely to be recalled with a highly detailed AM?

A

Unusual + detailed events

Unusual + recent events

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5
Q

What do Williams, Conway & Cohen (2008) state are the functions of AM?

A
  • directive functions
  • social functions (sharing AMs –> pleasant, socially-supportive)
  • self-representation
  • help us cope with adversity
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6
Q

Which researcher/s recorded 2 events (with 4 cues for each) per day for 6 years?

A

Wagenaar (1986)

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7
Q

What did Wagenaar (1986) find?

A

Who, what & where cues were best at evoking a memory
When cues were less efficient

He recalled more info from salient & emotionally-involving events

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8
Q

Robinson (1976) used a Galton Cueing Technique in his study? What did he do & what did he find?

A

He compared participants’ mean response times to recall a memory of an event in response to different cues (actions vs. objects vs. emotions)

Participants recalled events faster after action & object cues

–> specific AMs aren’t always accessed via the emotion they are associated with

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9
Q

Which researcher/s investigated whether differences in properties of cue words produced differences in the AMs obtained?
What properties did they look at?
What did they find?

A

Rubin & Schulkind (1997) investigated whether differences in IMAGERY, CONCRETENESS & MEANINGFULNESS produced differences in AMs obtained

Meaningful memories were best remembered for 20, 35 & 70 y/o

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10
Q

When/why does priming occur?

A

When exposure to a stimulus (word/event) leads to a faster response to another stimulus

–> have faster access to stimuli associated with the prime word/event

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11
Q

When deciding whether a letter string is a word/non-word, we decide faster if the string is preceded by a word that is EPISODICALLY/SEMANTICALLY related to it

A

Semantically

e.g. nurse –> doctor

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12
Q

What questionnaire did Conway & Bekerian (1987) design?

A

Personal Memory Questionnaire

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13
Q

How did they use this in their study?

A

Used it to identify cues for AM retrieval

Pps had to identify 10 general ‘Life Periods’ & 4-5 ‘General Events’ for each Life Period

Pps then retrieved memories to primed & unprimed semantic category cues, then to personal primes (Life Periods) & personal history cues (General Events)

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14
Q

What did Conway & Bekerian (1987) find?

A

Only personal primes helped memory retrieval

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15
Q

What do Lifetime Goals facilitate access to?

A

Memories of successful goal completion

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16
Q

Describe a typical lifespan AM retrieval task.

A

Pps (>40 y/o) generate AMs in response to Galton Cues
They date their memories (how old they were when it occurred) & the experimenter plots the number of memories from each age

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17
Q

Which are the stages of the Lifespan Retrieval Curve?

A
  1. Childhood/infantile amnesia
  2. Reminiscence bump
  3. Recency effect
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18
Q

Which research supports the idea that adults can remember little events from when they were very young (childhood amnesia)?

A

Robinson-Riegler (2012) - adults are unable to retrieve episodic memories from before 3-4 y/o, and retrieve fewer memories from before age 10 (fewer than what might be expected given the passage of time)

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19
Q

What study disproves the idea that people can’t remember memories before the age of 3?

A

Sheffield & Hudson (1994) - 2 y/os could recall playing with toys in a study they had done 6 months earlier

Children younger than 2 can recall events that occurred when they were 11 months

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20
Q

How are is the memory of 2-3 y/o different from that of older children?

A

2/3 y/o can recall some events but fewer details unless the event is salient

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21
Q

Wheeler, Stuss & Tulving (1997) found that 2/3 y/o recalled events that had occurred a year before. Why might their study support childhood amnesia though?

A

2/3 y/o’s memories were the recalls of factual info - they had no conscious recollection of the events so their memories can’t be classed as AMs

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22
Q

Why might young children not be able to form AMs?

A

We can’t reflect on ourselves & our past experiences until we are 2-3 y/o (when our self-concept & self-awareness starts to develop)

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23
Q

The onset of a cognitive self (at 18-24 months old, as indicated by mirror self-recognition) provides a knowledge structure that organises our memories of experiences. Which researcher/s said this?

A

Howe & Courage (1993)

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24
Q

What does our self-concept consist of?

A

A physical self (self-recognition) & psychological self (temporarily-extended self, exists over time)

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25
Q

Without a self-concept what form do our memories take?

A

Our memories are episodic (linked to time & space) but not autobiographical (linked to the self)

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26
Q

What is autonoetic consciousness?

A

The experience of oneself engaging in an event

Awareness of a previous conscious experience

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27
Q

What is the Reminiscence Bump?

A

Most events that we recall occurred between 15-30 y/o

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28
Q

What did Conway et al. (2005) find out about the Reminiscence Bump?

A

It is observed across cultures

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29
Q

The Reminiscence Bump might be linked to feelings of ‘nostalgia for our generation’ that we identify with our teen years/20s. Who said this?

A

Sehulster (1996)

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30
Q

What does Conway et al. (2005) say is formed during the Reminiscence Bump?

A

A stable ‘self’ is formed

31
Q

What research supports the Reminiscence Bump?

A

Jansari & Parkin (1996) had pps (36-40, 46-50, 56-60) recall events freely OR were told not to recall recent events. They found that constraint didn’t affect older pps but showed a RB in younger pps

32
Q

What is the 3rd stage of the Lifespan Retrieval Curve?

A

Recency effect

33
Q

What does the 3rd stage of the Lifespan Retrieval Curve claim?

A

Recency effect

Items recently studied are more accessible (more available in STM store) than items studied earlier (which we must retrieve from our LTM store)

34
Q

What research supports the Recency Effect?

A

Tzeng (1973), before & after they presented pps with each to-be-recalled word, had them count backwards for 20 seconds. At the end of each 10-word list, pps freely recalled words in the list. After 4 lists, pps freely recalled words from all 4 lists.

Found that both INITIAL recall & FINAL recall showed a positive recency effect

35
Q

What are the stages of the retrieval cycle?

A
  1. Elaborate a cue
  2. Search your autobiographical knowledge base
  3. Evaluate the output
  4. Termination/recycle
36
Q

Conway (2004/5) found that retrieval is controlled by…

A

…the SAS/CS, which contains a model of the ‘working self’

37
Q

What is the ‘working self’?

A

A concept of the ‘self’ that reflects our current goals & priorities; a subset of WM control processes; can create a temporary model of task demands & constraints; encoding & retrieving personal events is influenced by the goal structure of the working self

38
Q

What sort of info do older adults produce during AM retrieval?

A

Less detailed but more generic (schematic) info

39
Q

Older adults produce less detailed but more generic (schematic) info during AM retrieval. What emotions is this associated with?

A

A higher likelihood of depression, reduced well-being & lower life satisfaction

40
Q

Older adults recalled less episodic details but more schematic info (traits, preferences, general info about places, etc.). Who found this?

A

Abram et al. (2014)

41
Q

What are AMs associated with?

A

A sense of re-living the remembered past event (autonoetic consciousness) - remembering, not just knowing, that it occurred

42
Q

What sort of info does AM rely on?

A

Specific sensory-perceptual info

43
Q

What type of info is an important source of sensory-perceptual info?

A

Visual imagery

44
Q

What sort of vivid imagery is associated with AMs?

A

Vivid visual imagery - we are more likely to believe we are remembering an event if memory is accompanied by a vivid visual image

45
Q

Which brain areas did Cabeza et al. (2007) find that AM is associated with?

A

More activation in posterior areas that play a role in visual imagery

46
Q

What is an observer perspective?

A

Imagining a past event & seeing yourself in that event, as if you were observing yourself

47
Q

What is a field perspective?

A

Imagining/’seeing’ an event as if looking through your own eyes

48
Q

What type of perspective are actions & objects usually associated with?

A

Observer perspective

49
Q

What percentage of participants in Nigro & Neisser’s (1983) study recalled AMs from a Field perspective & Observer perspective in response to cues?

A

51% recalled from Field
37% recalled from Observer
12% recalled from neither

50
Q

Nigro & Neisser (1983) found that for more recent or vivid memories, pps were more likely to use a ______ perspective.

A

Field perspective

51
Q

Nigro & Neisser (1983) found that for more emotionally intense & self-aware memories, pps were more likely to use a ______ perspective.

A

Observer perspective

52
Q

Nigro & Neisser (1983) found that when the focus was on feelings, memories were more likely to be recalled from a ______ perspective.

A

Field (69%)

53
Q

Nigro & Neisser (1983) found that when the focus was on objective details, memories were more likely to be recalled from a ______ perspective.

A

Observer (54%)

54
Q

McIsaac & Eich (2004) found that most people with PTSD recall the traumatic event from a ______ perspective.

A

Field perspective (64%) - more emotional & anxiety-provoking than Observer

Both Observer & Field are detailed though

55
Q

From a Field perspective, what does detail focus on?

A

Feelings & internal states

56
Q

From an Observer perspective, what does detail focus on?

A

External features of the situation

57
Q

Which area of the brain plays a role in self-referential processing & perspective taking? (D’Argembeau et al., 2007)

A

The mPFC

58
Q

Which researcher/s had pps look at photos they had taken & photos other people had taken?

A

Cabeza et al. (2007)

59
Q

What did Cabeza et al. (2007) find in their study?

A

Looking at photos you took & photos that someone else had taken both activated the mtPFC

60
Q

Which areas of the brain is AM associated with?

A

mPFC - related to self-referential processing
Visual & parahippocampal regions - related to visual/spatial memory
Hippocampus - related to recollection

61
Q

According to Conway’s (2005) theory of AM, what do AMs retain knowledge about?

A

Knowledge about the experienced self

62
Q

Do we always produce a recollective experience when recalling AMs?

A

No - only occurs when autobiographical knowledge retains access to associated episodic memories

63
Q

What are AMs made on the basis of?

A

The autobiographical knowledge base (= facts about ourselves & our past)

64
Q

AMs are transitory. TRUE/FALSE?

A

True - AMs are transitory (temporary)

65
Q

The AM system depends on the interaction between the…

A

…knowledge base & working self

66
Q

What is our working self comprised of?

A

Our active goals & self-images
Conceptual self-knowledge (job, family, goals) which is socially constructed on family background, peer influence, school & other facts that influence the representation of you

67
Q

What does the working self modulate access to?

A

Modulates access to LTM & is itself influenced by LTM

68
Q

For the AM system to be effective, it must be…

A

Coherent

Correspond with outside reality

69
Q

When the link between our knowledge base & working self is lost, what might happen?

A

Confabulation / delusion

70
Q

Is our knowledge base hierarchical?

A

YES - it is split into different time periods & ‘general events’

71
Q

How is our knowledge base conceptualised?

A

It is conceptualised at an abstract level but can lead to specific AMs (e.g. a job interview) – these might have been stored at a more fundamental level containing detailed sensory-perceptual info (e.g. room where interview was held)

72
Q

What convinces us that our memory is genuine, rather than a confabulation?

A

The sensory detail in the memory

73
Q

Conway claims that the process of recollecting detail & recognising that it is familiar is based on…

A

…autonoetic consciousness

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