Chp 6.2: Autobiographical Memory Flashcards
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMORY:
FUNCTIONS (Bluck & colleagues) (3)
- Self Function (i.e., identity, sense of self)
- Social Function (i.e., connection with others
- Directive Function (i.e., guiding future behavior and facilitating problem-solving)
Highly superior autobiographical memory (2)
the ability to accurately recall an exceptional number of experiences (in detail) and their associated dates from events occurring throughout much of one’s lifetime.
Can still be prone to distortion
Autobiographical Knowledge
Semantic knowledge related to own life
Autobiographical memory consists of (2)
Autobiographical episodes
Autobiographical knowledge
CHARACTERISTICS OF
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL EPISODES (Conway, 2009) (8)
- Includes sensory, perceptual, and emotional features of original event
- Often represented as visual images
- Viewed from either a field perspective or an observer perspective
- Represents short periods of time
- Represented temporally in approximate order of occurrence
- Rapidly forgotten
- Level of detail renders them distinct from other memories
- Retrieval accompanied by an experience of “re-living”
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMORY:
DEVELOPMENTAL ASPECTS
The Autobiographical Retention Function
Childhood Amnesia
The “Reminiscence Bump”
Period of Recency
CHILDHOOD AMNESIA
What accounts for childhood amnesia? (4)
Issues with encoding/retrieval related to:
- Brain physiology
- Language ability
- Self-concept (past and present)
- Integration of event components
CHILDHOOD AMNESIA
(Bauer, 2015) : Complementary Process View (2)
Quality of encoded memories improves through childhood as ability to integrate the various components of episodic memory (i.e., how, where, when, etc) into a coherent whole
Rates of forgetting slow down as children get older (i.e., children forget at higher rates than adults)
THE REMINISCENCE BUMP (4)
Period from approximately ages 10-30 from which we have a disproportionate number of episodic memories
Development of personal preferences
Categorization of events as exceptionally significant
General semantic memory also emphasized during this period
What accounts for this “reminiscence bump”? (4)
Life stage characterized by distinctive events
Period of peak cognitive abilities
Critical period for identity formation
Existence of personal or cultural schemas describing important life events guide retrieval of memories
ENCODING SPECIFICITY IN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMORY
Marian & Neisser (2000): Experiment 1 (6)
- Participants: English/Russian speakers (N = 20)
- Within-subjects design
Interviewed in both English and Russian
Use of cue words
- Tell us about a memory cued by this word
Hypothesis: when cue word presented in English, should cue retrieval of memories in the US vs. Russian cue words: memory of Russia
Proved to be true
ENCODING SPECIFICITY IN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMORY
Marian & Neisser (2000): Experiment 2 (4)
- Participants: English/Russian speakers (N = 20)
- Within-subjects design
Some cue words in English, some in Russian
When languages matched, there are more recall
MUSIC-EVOKED AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMORIES (MEAMS)
What makes music such a good cue for the retrieval of autobiographical memories? (4)
Frequency of music listening in daily life
Music’s centrality in important personal and cultural events
May be enhanced by regular rehearsal (repeated listening to music associated with important events)
Emotional nature of both music and music-associated events may enhance both encoding and retrieval
MODELS OF AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMORY (2)
Basic-Systems View (Rubin & colleagues)
Self-Memory System View (Conway & colleagues)
Basic-Systems View (Rubin & colleagues)
autobiographical memory arises from the concurrent operation of several distinct basic brain systems
Self-Memory System View (Conway & colleagues) (3)
autobiographical memories are reconstructed by the working self
the autobiographical knowledge network provides context for this reconstruction
what is in the autobiographical knowledge network?
Lifetime Period
General events
Complex memories
FLASHBULB MEMORIES (3)
Vivid and long-lasting memory for the circumstances surrounding first learning of a surprising or highly consequential event
- subject to same distortions as other memories are
Term first used by Brown & Kulik (1977)
Flashbulb memories tend to include information about:
(5)
- Location (where you were)
- Activity (what you were doing)
- Source (who told you)
- Emotion (how you felt)
- Aftermath (what you did next)
Jakubowski & Eerola (music cue)
4 experiments
purpose: compare music with other autobiographical memory cues
- music’s emotional valence might be how to cue memory
participants involved
general adults.
- didn’t have any history with neurological issue that may impact cognition
- did not struggle with clinical issues
- all studies held online
first study
compare music clips with environmental
First study: Jakubowski & Eerola (music cue)
compare music clips with environmental sounds
(wanted to find sounds as close to music)
- movie music, ones that were previously rated by authors
- wanted unfamiliar music
- environmental sounds - sound effect database
- 39 sounds that felt varied between valence and arousal
found; hard time finding environmental sounds for 4th quadrant.
didn’t rate environmental sounds as being sad.
(-left this quadrant out)
What participants had to do: Jakubowski & Eerola (music cue)
onset of music, had to press a button for when a memory had been retrieved/recalled. If pressed: asked a bunch of questions about memory also measured how fast people pressed button.
what was measured in the questions about memory: Jakubowski & Eerola (music cue)
- how vivid
- emotional content
- emotional intensity
- how old were you
- how unique is the event
- how social is the event
- how energetic is the content
- how important is the memory
- have you ever heard the piece of music before
dependent variables Jakubowski & Eerola (music cue)
type of context, emotional content of the cue
Results: Jakubowski & Eerola (music cue)
About half of sounds produced some kind of memory
didn’t matter what quadrant they were in, each
quadrant = similar number of memories
- sounds elicited more autobiographical memory, more involuntary memories, rated higher in vividness also more social
- music: evoke more positive memories than sounds regardless of valence of music itself
other studies: Jakubowski & Eerola (music cue)
when moved into words and non-film music, found: more personal memories
Main takeaway: Jakubowski & Eerola (music cue)
while words and sound clips appeared to elicit a few more memories, music enlisted more positive memories regardless of valence
- results may not apply where music is self selected
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