Voluntary Remembering: Elucidating the Mental Strategies Used to Recall the Past

Examining the roles of visual imagery and working memory in the retrieval of autobiographical memories using a dual-task paradigm

The retrieval of autobiographical memories involves the construction of mental representations of past personal events. Many researchers examining the processes underlying memory retrieval argue that visual imagery plays a fundamental role. Other researchers, however, have argued that working memory is an integral component involved in memory retrieval. The goal of this study was to resolve these conflicting arguments by comparing the relative contributions of visual imagery and working memory during the retrieval of autobiographical memories in a dual-task paradigm. While following a moving dot, viewing a dynamic visual noise (DVN), or viewing a blank screen, 95 participants recalled their memories and subsequently rated them on different memory characteristics. The results suggest that inhibiting visual imagery by having participants view DVN merely delayed memory retrieval but did not affect the phenomenological quality of the memories retrieved. Taxations to the working memory by having participants follow a moving dot, on the contrary, resulted in only longer retrieval latencies and no reductions in the specificity, vividness, or the emotional intensity of the memories retrieved. Whereas the role of visual imagery during retrieval is clear, future studies could further examine the role of working memory during retrieval by administering a task that is less difficult or by recruiting a larger sample than this study. The results of this study seem to suggest that both visual imagery and working memory play a role during the retrieval of autobiographical memory, but more research needs to be conducted to determine their exact roles.

The Subjective Experience of Autobiographical Remembering: Conceptual and Methodological Advances and Challenges

The investigation of the phenomenology of autobiographical memories (i.e., how a memory is subjectively experienced and its meaning) has provided an important contribution to our understanding of autobiographical remembering. Over the last two decades, the study of phenomenology has received widespread scientific attention, and the field has undergone quite relevant conceptual and methodological changes. In the present work, we (1) review some basic and well-established research findings and methodological achievements; (2) discuss new theoretical and methodological challenges, with a special focus on the issue of the phenomenological experience of the retrieval process and its relationship with the phenomenology of the products of retrieval; and (3) propose an alternative way of conceptualizing and understanding it in the framework of experimental phenomenology.

Bringing Order to Life: Temporal Order Effects during the Recall of Important Autobiographical Memories in Young and Old Adults

OBJECTIVE

The present study investigated whether younger and older adults differ in the extent to which they order their important autobiographical memories (AMs) in a chronological way during recall. Moreover, the number of autobiographical memories to be recalled was systematically varied in order to examine whether manipulating the size of the search sample affects the use of a chronological recall strategy.

METHODS

Data come from 118 younger adults (M = 23.12, SD = 3.33) and 124 older adults (M = 69.79, SD = 8.94) who recalled either seven or thirteen important AMs.

RESULTS

Using multilevel linear growth models, a temporal order effect for younger and older adults was found. For older adults, the temporal order effect was much more pronounced. The number of recalled events, however, did not affect the temporal order effect.

CONCLUSION

Our findings point to a higher need for a structured search or a stronger engagement in autobiographical reasoning processes in older age. Furthermore, asking for important AMs encourages participants to provide a comprehensive overview of their life independent of the number of important AMs to be recalled.

Dissociations between directly and generatively retrieved autobiographical memories: evidence from ageing

Autobiographical memory research has largely focused on effortful, generative retrieval processes, particularly in cognitive ageing literature. However, recent evidence has shown that autobiographical memories are often retrieved directly, without effortful retrieval processes. In the present study, we examined the retrieval characteristics and the phenomenological qualities of directly and generatively retrieved memories in younger and older adults. Participants recalled autobiographical memories in response to word-cues and reported whether each of their memories was retrieved directly (i.e., memory popped into mind) or generatively (i.e., they actively searched for it), and provided ratings for several retrieval and phenomenological characteristics. Overall, directly retrieved autobiographical memories were recalled faster and with less effort, were more recent, more frequently rehearsed, more vivid, and more positive in valence than generatively retrieved memories. Importantly, while younger adults recalled a higher number of generatively retrieved autobiographical memories than older adults, there were no age effects on the number of directly retrieved memories. We also established the parallel-form reliability of the word-cue method in eliciting autobiographical memories by comparing two sets of word-cues. The results provide novel insights on the dissociable effects of retrieval type and ageing on autobiographical memories. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Effects of bilingualism on autobiographical memory: variation in idea density and retrieval speed

Prior work on bilingual memory has largely focused on working memory and less on autobiographical memory. In the present study, we tested the effect of bilingualism on autobiographical memory and examined whether an effect would be moderated or mediated by working memory. Spanish-English bilingual and English-only monolingual adults completed an autobiographical cued-recall task, as well as a working memory measure. Memories were coded for retrieval speed and propositional idea density. Bilingual status was associated with faster memory retrieval but did not affect propositional idea density. Better working memory was associated with slower memory retrieval but did not affect propositional idea density, nor did working memory moderate or mediate the effect of bilingualism. Together, these results indicate an effect of bilingualism on the speed of autobiographical memory retrieval that does not extend to autobiographical memory content and suggest that the effect of bilingualism is independent of the effect of working memory.

Are involuntary autobiographical memory and déjà vu natural products of memory retrieval?

Involuntary autobiographical memories (IAMs) and déjà vu are phenomena that occur spontaneously in daily life. IAMs are recollections of the personal past, whereas déjà vu is defined as an experience in which the person feels familiarity at the same time as knowing that the familiarity is false. We present and discuss the idea that both IAMs and déjà vu can be explained as natural phenomena resulting from memory processing and, importantly, are both based on the same memory retrieval processes. Briefly, we hypothesise that both can be described as "involuntary" or spontaneous cognitions, where IAMs deliver content and déjà vu delivers only the feeling of retrieval. We map out the similarities and differences between the two, making a theoretical and neuroscientific account for their integration into models of memory retrieval and how the autobiographical memory literature can explain these quirks of daily life and unusual but meaningful phenomena. We explain the emergence of the déjà vu phenomenon by relating it to well-known mechanisms of autobiographical memory retrieval, concluding that IAMs and déjà vu lie on a continuum.

Elucidating the mental processes underlying the direct retrieval of autobiographical memories

The literature on autobiographical memory retrieval has directed much attention to the concepts of direct retrieval (fast, automatic retrieval) and generative retrieval (slower, deliberative/strategic retrieval). Among the many findings reported on these phenomena, their relative prevalence has stood out as a central feature in many studies, with most studies reporting the frequency of direct retrieval as equal to or exceeding generative retrieval. In this study, we used the retrieve-aloud procedure (a method where participants verbalize their thoughts while retrieving) to delve more deeply into the nature of reports of ubiquitous direct retrieval. We hypothesized that much of the direct retrieval reported in literature is not bona fide direct retrieval (i.e., seemingly automatic retrieval), but is a combination of other retrieval processes, including generative-like retrieval processes. Our results supported this view, showing that less than one-half of all of the observed direct retrievals were bona fide direct retrieval, while the rest were a form of generative retrieval, or fell somewhere in between direct and generative retrieval. We argue that the results suggest that the prevalence of direct retrieval may be overestimated in the literature, and we further propose an alternative classification schema for direct retrievals.

Planting the SEED: A model to describe the functions of music in reminiscence therapy

Music-assisted reminiscence therapy involves the use of music, in any form, to prompt and augment the recollection of autobiographical memories and therapeutic reframing of the meaning of one's life and experiences. The functions of music in reminiscence therapy remains unclear. Drawing on interdisciplinary research in music therapy, psychology, sociology, gerontology, and neuroscience, this paper proposes a theoretical model for understanding the multiple functions of music when used in reminiscence therapy, and describes how music-assisted reminiscence therapy might be used to improve the wellbeing of older people. The SEED model proposes that music, when used together with reminiscence interventions, helps to: 1) summon autobiographical memories; 2) evoke strong emotional reactions; 3) elicit physiological responses; and 4) define identity. Evidence for the four proposed functions of music in reminiscence interventions is presented. The SEED model expands on previous research and theory on music and reminiscence, neural and cognitive processing, and the therapeutic use of music. The SEED model maps the benefits and indicators for the use of music in reminiscence therapy and provides a blueprint for research to test the purported benefits of using music to enhance reminiscence therapy.

When trying to recall our past, all roads lead to Rome: More evidence for the multi-process retrieval theory of autobiographical memory

In this study, we tested elements of the multi-process retrieval account of autobiographical memory, retrieval multiplicity, and retrieval selectivity. The retrieval multiplicity states that multiple different retrieval strategies are used to recall autobiographical memories, while the retrieval selectivity states that such retrieval strategies will vary in accord with the cuing environment. We tested these hypotheses across two experiments with the retrieve-aloud procedure. In the retrieve-aloud procedure, participants were required to verbalize their thoughts while attempting to retrieve personal memories in response to phrase cues (e.g., listening to music). Experiments 1 and 2 found support for the retrieval multiplicity by showing that participants used a variety of different retrieval processes (eight different processes in total), while Experiment 1 found support for the retrieval selectivity by showing that retrieval strategies varied across different cue types. The implications of the findings are discussed with respect to autobiographical memory, as well as semantic memory.

Direct and generative autobiographical memory retrieval: How different are they?

Theories of autobiographical memory have emphasised effortful generative retrieval, but recent research indicates that subjectively effortless direct retrieval is common. We compared the processes of direct and generative retrieval. Sixty-five participants retrieved 24 autobiographical memories across three cue types: concrete, emotional, and personal. We recorded retrieval latency, and participants judged direct versus generative retrieval and rated memory specificity, vividness, significance, rehearsal, and emotionality. Overall, direct retrieval was common, especially for personal cues. Directly retrieved memories were recalled faster, were less likely to be specific, and were rated more significant, rehearsed, and emotional than generatively retrieved memories. The speed of both direct and generative retrieval varied similarly according to cue type, suggesting they did not involve fundamentally different cognitive processes. These findings challenge theories that assume direct retrieval bypasses constructive processes. Instead we suggest that both direct and generative retrieval involve construction that is similarly affected by cue concreteness and relevance.

Reflecting on how we remember the personal past: missing components in the study of memory appraisal and theoretical implications

The current paper offers a selective review of the study of memory appraisal, focusing on recollections of the personal past, with the goal to bring attention to a missing component in this study. To date, memory appraisal studies have concentrated on participants' assessments of the content of their personal recollections (e.g., their perceptual detail and story-like feel), including beliefs about the accuracy of that content. Participants' assessments of reflection processes accompanying their recollections (e.g., a sense of piecing-together recollection fragments) have yet to be extensively examined. The lack of information on process-based appraisals is related to prior studies' procedural constraints (e.g., kinds of cue prompts and their timing, minimal opportunities for reflection). Reasons for addressing this missing component provide the central themes of the paper. The reasons emerge from the analysis of autobiographical cueing studies, including integration of narrative research studies and autobiographical works. The analysis leads to suggestions for future research involving the use of personal narratives that are intended to address critiques of reconstruction accounts and unresolved questions in the study of memory appraisal.