Autobiographical Memory Flashcards
What is autobiographical memory?
- memory for the events of ones life
- a knowledge of facts out ones life
What is the difference between autobiographical and episodic memory?
autobiographical memory s are memories for events in your life, whereas episodic memory is an awareness arising when an individual consciously recalls a specific periods as it was experienced at that time
Evidence for the distinction between autobiographical and episodic memories …
Burianova et al
showed participants pictures and measured which were autobiographical, episodic and semantic
all memories shared some brain regions in the frontal, temporal and parietal lobes
also different activations associated with episodic versus auto
what is infantile amnesia?
It is the absence of memories for the first three years of life
This is due to hippocampus development and the density of synapses in the prefrontal cortex
what is the role of the self in autobiographical memories?
people need a self concept before they can form autobiographical memories
self-recognising infants have a better memory for personal events than non-self-recognizers
what is the social-cultural developmental theory?
language and culture influence autobiographical memory retrieval
Simcock and Hayne 2002 found evidence for the social-cultural development theory…
2 and 3 year olds retrieving complex play activities a year later only used words they knew at the time of recording even though their vocabulary had increased
A mothers reminiscing style (elaboration) is important to developing autobiographical memories because …
it teaches the child to communicate in lots of detail
How does culture effect the retrieval of autobiographical memories?
individualistic cultures are better at retrieving memories because the culture focuses on the self concept
What is the reminiscence bump?
it occurs between the ages of 10-30 years old
it is believed to be due to defining life events that happen to the self
(graduating, getting a job, relationship, moving out)
Key things to do with autobiographical memories…
- emergence may depend on self-concept
- the expression of autobiographical memories depends on social factors (culture/language)
- remember the greatest number of events between 10 and 30
What is hyperthymestic syndrome?
the ability to recall detailed information about almost everyday for one’s life over a long time period
these people show normal performance on standard memory tests
What are flashbulb memories?
they are autobiographical memories for important dramatic and unique public events
(diana’s death, 9/11)
they activate a special neural mechanism that encodes the details of the event in the memory system
what information is encoded in a flashbulb memory?
- person
- place (where they learned about it)
- ongoing event (when they learned about it)
- individual’s own emotional state
- emotional state of others
- consequences for the individual
Are flashbulb memories more accurate?
Flashbulb memories are more vivid over time but did not show greater consistency than everyday memories
