Chapter 11

Question 1

Autobiographical memory

Answer 1

Memory across the lifespan for both specific events and self-related information

Question 2

Reminiscence bump

Answer 2

The tendency in participants over 40 to show a high rate of recollecting personal experiences from their late teens and early twenties

Question 3

Life narrative

Answer 3

A coherent and integrated account of one’s life that is claimed to form the basis of autobiographical memory retrieval. A life narrative provides an organized set of schemas with which key episodic events can be integrated, both increasing the changes of consolidation, and making memory retrieval efficient

Question 4

Autobiographical knowledge base

Answer 4

Facts about ourselves and our past that form the basis for autobiographical memory

Question 5

Working self

Answer 5

A concept proposed by Conway to account for the way in which autobiographical knowledge is accumulated and used

Question 6

Autonoetic consciousness

Answer 6

A term proposed by Tulving for self-awareness, allowing the rememberer to reflect on the contents of episodic memory

Question 7

Flashbulb memory

Answer 7

Detailed, vivid and apparently highly accurate memory of a dramatic experience

Question 8

Fading affect bias

Answer 8

The consistent tendency for negative memories, over time, to lose affective intensity at a higher rate than positive memories

Question 9

HSAM is the acronym for…

Answer 9

Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory

Question 10

What is the meaning of HSAM?

Answer 10

Memory cases in which people exhibit extraordinary memory for everyday autobiographical events over many years

Question 11

SDAM

Answer 11

“Severely deficient autobiographical memory”
- Neuropsychological condition in which otherwise high functioning individuals nevertheless are largely unable to remember autobiographical experiences of re-experience them

Question 12

Fugue state

Answer 12

A form psychogenic amnesia in which a person abruptly loses access to all autobiographical memories from their life, and their personal identity, often resulting in a period of wandering without knowledge of how they got to a location or why. This condition often resolves quickly (within days or weeks)

Question 13

Fugue-to-FRA

Answer 13

A distinct form of psychogenic amnesia which starts with fugue, but is followed by recovery or relearning of identity, but with persistent and long-lasting deficits in autobiographical memories, especially older ones

Question 14

Focal retrograde amnesia (FRA)

Answer 14

A distinct form of psychogenic amnesia without fugue or significant loss of identity, but with an abrupt loss of autobiographical memories that can be extensive and persisting

Question 15

Gaps in memory

Answer 15

A distinct form of psychogenic amnesia without fugue or significant loss of personal identity, but with an abrupt loss of discrete periods of time, ranging from hours to months. Multiple gaps may be present

Question 16

Reverse temporal gradient

Answer 16

The tendency, in focal retrograde amnesia, for the oldest autobiographical memories to be forgotten more than more recent ones, the opposite to what is shown in organic amnesia

Question 17

PTSD is the acronym for ____ ____ ____ ____, and it stands for…

Answer 17

Post-traumatic stress disorder; Anxiety disorder whereby a dramatic and stressful event such as rape results in persistent anxiety, often accompanied by vivid flashback memories of the event

Question 18

Posterior midline cortex

Answer 18

An area adjacent to and including the posterior cingulate cortex, often including the precuneus and retrosplenial cortex, which appears to be critical for autobiographical memory retrieval, especially for the reinstatement of vivid visual-spatial details.

Question 19

Positivity bias

Answer 19

Positive memories enjoy grater accessibility than do unpleasant memories

Question 20

Patients with HSAM show evidence of enhanced ____-____ connectivity

Answer 20

Prefrontal-hippocampal

Question 21

SDAM is often associated with deficits in ____ ____, and with reduced activity in brain structures relating to ___-____ processing

Answer 21

Mental imagery; visual-spatial

Question 22

Focal retrograde amnesia patients exhibit a ____ ____ ____ in their forgetting

Answer 22

Reverse temporal gradient

Question 23

Autobiographical memory and ____ memory are clearly related but may also be ____ in important ways

Answer 23

Episodic; distinct

Question 24

In Wagenaar’s study about ____ method (1986), he found that ____ cues improved retrieval, specifically the ____ and ____ cues were better than “when” cues.

Answer 24

Diary; more; who; what

Question 25

Pros and cons to the diary method

Answer 25

Pro: Allows the unique events of a person’s life to be test stimuli Con: May encourage unusually deep levels of processing; writing memory down may improve memory

Question 26

Memory Probe Method

Answer 26

Participants are given a word, and asked to recall a relevant memory

Question 27

Gluck and Bluck (2007) collected life memories form ~650 participants. They found that people generally remembered their ____ memories in their ____ life (10). On the other hand, ____ memories have a slight increase in their ____ life (40-50).

Answer 27

Positive; early; negative; late

Question 28

Rubin Groth and Goldsmith (1984) wanted to study if cues need to be words. What were their findings?

Answer 28

They used smells to cue memories, and found that smell-cued memories were earlier and more emotional than word-cued memories

Question 29

Berntsen and Thomsen (2005) found that participants who were involved in the Danish resistance had ____ accuracy scores for invasion/liberation memories, which suggests that flashbulb memories are motivated by strong ____ and ____ relevance

Answer 29

Higher; social; emotional

Question 30

Neisse and Harsch (1992) wanted to examine how accurate are ____ memories. They surveyed participants one day after Challenger disaster, then two and a half years later. They found a substantial ____ in accuracy after time has passed.

Answer 30

Flashbulb; decrease

Question 31

Talarico and Rubin (2003) asked participants to recall memories of 9.11 and everyday events, and in both cases they were cued with their own previous recollections. They found that as days passed, there is a ____ in consistency and ____ in inconsistency in both forms of memory

Answer 31

Decrease; increase

Question 32

Bernsten (1996) conducted a ____ study to determine emotional valence of ____ memories. What was his results?

Answer 32

Diary; involuntary; he found that most memories are “positive” and “neutral”, followed by “highly positive” and “negative”, with the least being “highly negative”.

Question 33

In Walker, Vogl, and Thomspon’s study about the fading affect bias (1997), they found that ____ memories had a greater ____ in affect intensity.

Answer 33

Unpleasant; decrease

Question 34

The study by Conway, Wang, Hanyu, and Haque (2005) revealed that the ____ ____ is found across cultures and countries.

Answer 34

Reminiscence bump

Question 35

Psychogenic amnesia

Answer 35

Amnesia which is not caused by a neurological cause, involves forgetting and gaps in autobiographical memory. It is extremely rare, but contains multiple patterns of symptoms classified by what cannot be retrieved

Question 36

Flashback

Answer 36

Re-experiencing a memory vividly and involuntarily

Question 37

Storm and Job (2012) conducted a study to examine whether ____ ____ is the result of reporting bias or due to difficulty accessing negative memories. What were their result?

Answer 37

Positivity bias; Increasing retrieval-induced forgetting decreased autobiographical recall of negative memories