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
