Emotion and vantage point in autobiographical

Transdiagnostic and transtherapeutic strategies for optimising autobiographical memory

Our memories for past personally experienced autobiographical events play an important role in therapy, irrespective of presenting issue, diagnoses or therapeutic modality. Here, we summarise evidence for how autobiographical memory abilities can influence our mental health and the relevance of this for the treatment of mental health problems. We then guide the reader through principles and strategies for optimising autobiographical memory within treatment. We ground these recommendations within research for stand-alone interventions for improving autobiographical memory and from studies of how to support the formation and retrieval of therapeutic memories. Options are given for clinicians to guide clients in improving retrieval of autobiographical memories within treatment, for improving autobiographical memory for the therapeutic experience itself, and for creating improvements in autobiographical memory that endure post-treatment. We also provide worksheets for clinicians to use within treatment.

Autobiographical phenomenology of memories of fiction

Most autobiographical memories are based on real-life experiences, but memories of fiction have many similarities to real-life autobiographical memories. However, the phenomenological nature of this similarity, the potential differences between media types, and the role of individual differences need further investigation. Based on previous findings, we expected differences between media types on emotional intensity, sensory vividness, and confidence about the recall. To provide insight into these issues, we collected one real-life autobiographical memory and one memory of fiction (book, film, or video game) from 291 participants. We asked them to rate their memories phenomenologically. The participants also provided information regarding their motivations for engaging with fictional stories. Our results show phenomenological differences in several dimensions between media types and differences in the similarity of media types to real-life memories. While absorption seems to be a good predictor for immersion, escapism tendency is a motivation to engage with fiction frequently.

Journeying to the past: time travel and mental time travel, how far apart?

Spatial models dominated memory research throughout much of the twentieth century, but in recent decades, the concept of memory as a form of mental time travel (MTT) to the past has gained prominence. Initially introduced as a metaphor, the MTT perspective shifted the focus from internal memory processes to the subjective conscious experience of remembering. Despite its significant impact on empirical and theoretical memory research, there has been limited discussion regarding the meaning and adequacy of the MTT metaphor in accounting for memory. While in previous work I have addressed the general limitations of the MTT metaphor in explaining memory, the objective of this article is more focused and modest: to gain a better understanding of what constitutes MTT to the past. To achieve this objective, a detailed analysis of the characteristics of MTT to the past is presented through a comparison with time travel (TT) to the past. Although acknowledging that TT does not refer to an existing physical phenomenon, it is an older concept extensively discussed in the philosophical literature and provides commonly accepted grounds, particularly within orthodox theories of time, that can offer insights into the nature of MTT. Six specific characteristics serve as points of comparison: (1) a destination distinct from the present, (2) the distinction between subjective time and objective time, (3) the subjective experience of the time traveler, (4) their differentiation from the past self, (5) the existence of the past, and (6) its unchangeability. Through this research, a detailed exploration of the phenomenal and metaphysical aspects of MTT to the past is undertaken, shedding light on the distinct features that mental time travel to the past acquires when it occurs within the realm of the mind rather than as a physical phenomenon. By examining these characteristics, a deeper understanding of the nature of mental time travel is achieved, offering insights into how it operates in relation to memory and the past.

Visual perspective in autobiographical memories of self-incongruent episodes

It is widely assumed that autobiographical memory relies on an integration of episodic memory with the self-model. We hypothesise that self-memory integration depends critically on self-congruence. More specifically, self-incongruent experiences such as those that elicit shame or guilt may be more difficult to integrate. Self-incongruence may affect both the semantic reports of memories and their phenomenological characteristics, in particular their visual perspective (1PP or 3PP, i.e., field or observer perspective), their affective valence, and their perceived centrality. Diary based memories were assigned to 4 categories (shame, guilt, negative, neutral) and were rated for the different phenomenological dimensions. We used a deep neural network, univariate and multilevel models to assess differences and relationships between different variables. We found that memories that elicited shame (but not guilt) showed more pronounced 3PP as compared to other experiences. Shameful episodes also elicited the most pronounced negative affect. A multilevel analysis revealed that the amount of shame that an episode elicited, and its semantic similarity with shame episodes, predicted higher 3PP, while affective valence did not. Our results show that self-incongruence affects memories both at the level of their semantic reports and their phenomenology, and thus contributes to a mechanistic understanding of self-memory integration.

The effect of visual perspective on episodic memory in aging: A virtual reality study

The possibility of flexibly retrieving our memories using a first-person or a third-person perspective (1PP or 3PP) has been extensively investigated in episodic memory research. Here, we used a Virtual Reality-based paradigm to manipulate the visual perspective used during the encoding stage to investigate age-related differences in the formation of memories experienced from 1PP vs. 3PP. 32 young adults and 32 seniors participated in the study. Participants navigated through two virtual cities to encode complex real-life virtual events, from either a 1PP (as if from their egocentric viewpoint) or a 3PP, while actively controlling an avatar. While recognition accuracy was higher in young adults after encoding in 1PP compared to 3PP, there was no benefit in memory formation in 1PP for older adults. These findings are discussed in terms of both age-related changes in episodic memory functioning and self-referencing processes.

The Projective Consciousness Model: Projective Geometry at the Core of Consciousness and the Integration of Perception, Imagination, Motivation, Emotion, Social Cognition and Action

Consciousness has been described as acting as a global workspace that integrates perception, imagination, emotion and action programming for adaptive decision making. The mechanisms of this workspace and their relationships to the phenomenology of consciousness need to be further specified. Much research in this area has focused on the neural correlates of consciousness, but, arguably, computational modeling can better be used toward this aim. According to the Projective Consciousness Model (PCM), consciousness is structured as a viewpoint-organized, internal space, relying on 3D projective geometry and governed by the action of the Projective Group as part of a process of active inference. The geometry induces a group-structured subjective perspective on an encoded world model, enabling adaptive perspective taking in agents. Here, we review and discuss the PCM. We emphasize the role of projective mechanisms in perception and the appraisal of affective and epistemic values as tied to the motivation of action, under an optimization process of Free Energy minimization, or more generally stochastic optimal control. We discuss how these mechanisms enable us to model and simulate group-structured drives in the context of social cognition and to understand the mechanisms underpinning empathy, emotion expression and regulation, and approach-avoidance behaviors. We review previous results, drawing on applications in robotics and virtual humans. We briefly discuss future axes of research relating to applications of the model to simulation- and model-based behavioral science, geometrically structured artificial neural networks, the relevance of the approach for explainable AI and human-machine interactions, and the study of the neural correlates of consciousness.

Fade In, Fade Out: Do Shifts in Visual Perspective Predict the Consistency of Real-World Memories?

Memories of our personal past are not exact accounts of what occurred. Instead, memory reconstructs the past in adaptive-though not always faithful-ways. Using a naturalistic design, we asked how the visual perspective adopted in the mind's eye when recalling the past-namely, an "own eyes" versus "observer" perspective-relates to the stability of autobiographical memories. We hypothesized that changes in visual perspective over time would predict poorer consistency of memories. Young adults (N = 178) rated the phenomenology of and freely recalled self-selected memories of everyday events at two time points (10 weeks apart). Multilevel linear modeling revealed, as expected, that greater shifts in visual perspective over time predicted lower memory consistency, particularly for emotional details. Our results offer insight into the factors that predict the fidelity of memories for everyday events. Moreover, our results may elucidate new metrics that are useful in interpreting eyewitness testimony or experiences relayed in clinical contexts.

The positivity bias of Chinese temporal collective self: Evidence from the first-person perspective and the third-person perspective

Objective

As a unique part of human thinking, people can project themselves into the past or the future for mental time travel. This study attempts to expand the temporal self into the domain of the collective self.

Methods

We used an adapted temporal collective self-reference paradigm to probe into the positivity bias of temporal collective self in this study. In Experiment 1, the first-person perspective was adopted for the participants to conduct the temporal collective self-reference processing, and the third-person perspective was adopted for the temporal collective self-reference processing in Experiment 2.

Results

The findings indicated that no matter from the first-person perspective or the third-person perspective, people show positivity bias in the trait adjectives judgment, response times and recognition rates during the temporal collective self-processing.

Discussion

This study explores mental time travel on the level of collective self, and contributes to deepening the understanding of temporal collective self.

Reflect on emotional events from an observer's perspective: a meta-analysis of experimental studies

Self-distancing has been proposed as an emotion regulation strategy to reduce the duration and intensity of emotions. This meta-analysis synthesised 48 studies and 102 effect sizes examining the effects of self-distancing on emotion regulation. The results showed an overall significant, small effect of self-distancing in attenuating emotional responses (Hedges' g = -0.26, 95%CI: [-0.36, -0.15]). Moderator analyses highlighted the efficacy of one intervention feature: approach. Stronger effect was associated with the visual and verbal approach to process emotional events, in comparison to the visual only approach and the pronouns approach. The effectiveness of self-distancing was consistent across other intervention features (context, stimuli, time, emotional outcome) and individual characteristics (emotional vulnerability, age, culture). These findings suggest that self-distancing is effective in emotion regulation when people externalise and articulate thoughts through writing and talking. Practical implications were discussed in relation to the design of interventions to enhance emotional well-being.

Aesthetic experience enhances first-person spatial representation

Episodic autobiographical memories are characterized by a spatial context and an affective component. But how do affective and spatial aspects interact? Does affect modulate the way we encode the spatial context of events? We investigated how one element of affect, namely aesthetic liking, modulates memory for location, in three online experiments (n = 124, 79, and 80). Participants visited a professionally curated virtual art exhibition. They then relocated previously viewed artworks on the museum map and reported how much they liked them. Across all experiments, liking an artwork was associated with increased ability to recall the wall on which it was hung. The effect was not explained by viewing time and appeared to modulate recognition speed. The liking-wall memory effect remained when participants attended to abstractness, rather than liking, and when testing occurred 24 h after the museum visit. Liking also modulated memory for the room where a work of art was hung, but this effect primarily involved reduced room memory for disliked artworks. Further, the liking-wall memory effect remained after controlling for effects of room memory. Recalling the wall requires recalling one's facing direction, so our findings suggest that positive aesthetic experiences enhance first-person spatial representations. More generally, a first-person component of positive affect transfers to wider spatial representation and facilitates the encoding of locations in a subject-centered reference frame. Affect and spatial representations are therefore important, and linked, elements of sentience and subjectivity. Memories of aesthetic experiences are also spatial memories of how we encountered a work of art. This linkage may have implications for museum design.

Jacques PL. The influence of shifting perspective on episodic and semantic details during autobiographical memory recall

Shifting to a novel visual perspective during retrieval influences autobiographical memories (AM) and can lead to persistent changes in memories. Adopting an observer-like compared to an own eyes perspective reduces episodic information during AM recall, but less is known regarding how viewpoint influences semantic information. In the current study, we investigated how shifting from an own eyes to an observer-like perspective during narrative recall of AMs influences episodic and semantic information. Shifting perspective reduced the number of episodic details associated with emotions and thoughts, and also led to similar reductions in personal semantics. We replicated prior research showing that shifting perspective reduces emotional intensity in subsequent memories, but these subjective changes were not coupled with objective changes in a narrative recall. Our findings suggest that shifting perspective influences the interplay between episodic and semantic information during proximate recall and subjective changes when memories are later recalled.

Exploring the role of interoception in autobiographical memory recollection

The way we perceive signals coming from the inside of the body (i.e., interoception) may influence the processing of information related to the self. In this study, we investigated whether interoceptive sensibility may play a role in autobiographical memory processes. We evaluated 41 healthy participants with a modified version of the Autobiographical Memory Test, also assessing specificity, vividness, emotional valence, and intensity for autobiographical and public memories. Participants completed a self-report questionnaire measuring interoceptive sensibility. Results showed that autobiographical memories were recalled with higher specificity, vividness, and emotional intensity than public memories. Interestingly, we found that participants with (self-reported) high interoceptive sensibility recalled more positive events in the autobiographical compared to the public condition. Our findings provided new evidence on the selective role of physiological aspects of bodily self-awareness in autobiographical memory, suggesting that interoception is fundamental for supporting adaptive emotion regulation processes when recollecting engrams related to the self.

Beyond words: Conceptual framework for the study and practice of hypnotherapeutic imagery

This paper provides a conceptual framework for the study and clinical application of hypnotherapeutic imagery (HTI). Using the grounded theory method of conceptual analysis, a unified theoretical framework is constructed from a multidisciplinary review of literature (i.e., this new theory is based on the collection and analysis of independently sourced data). The aim is to enumerate the chorographical features of HTI simulations within the mental landscape, rather than seeking to predict them. This is achieved using a combination of ontological, epistemological, and methodological inquires. Because mental simulation is both symptomatic of mental disorders and a psychotherapeutic agent, used across various treatment modalities, an attempt is made to isolate those variables that differentiate HTI from other instances of mental simulation. Lastly, applied principles from multiple disciplines are used to formulate HTI methodology designed to effectively enhance intuitive understanding and unconscious problem-solving.

Drawing compared to writing in a diary enhances recall of autobiographical memories

Drawing at encoding has been shown to improve later recall of to-be-remembered words, pictures, and academic terms, compared to when one simply writes out the target information. Here we examined whether drawing in a diary, compared to writing in it, differentially improved later memorability of personal autobiographical events, and whether aging influenced the magnitude of this effect. Thirty younger and thirty older adults were given a diary booklet, and instructed to use it to reminisce about a random daily event of their choosing, on 12 days within a two-week period. They recorded the event on each day in one of two ways, counterbalanced within-subject: by writing about or by drawing a picture of the event. Participants also generated a keyword descriptor for each event. After the two-week period, participants were cued using their keyword descriptors to recall each autobiographical memory by writing it down. Self-reported match accuracy, between reminisced and recalled events was tabulated. Across age groups, match accuracy was significantly higher for those drawn than written during the reminiscing phase. In addition, we compared the word count, level of detail, visual imagery, and point of view of the recalled memories. Self-reports of the level of detail in the recalled memory were better maintained for events drawn compared to written during the reminiscing stage, and better maintained in older than younger adults. Our findings suggest the use of drawing, while reminiscing within a diary format, enhances accuracy and quality of later recollections.

Emotion Regulation by Psychological Distance and Level of Abstraction: Two Meta-Analyses

Self-reflection is suggested to attenuate feelings, yet researchers disagree on whether adopting a distant or near perspective, or processing the experience abstractly or concretely, is more effective. Given the relationship between psychological distance and level of abstraction, we suggest the "construal-matching hypothesis": Psychological distance and abstraction differently influence emotion intensity, depending on whether the emotion's appraisal involves low-level or high-level construal. Two meta-analyses tested the effects of psychological distance (k = 230) and level-of-abstraction (k = 98) manipulations on emotional experience. A distant perspective attenuated emotional experience (g = 0.52) but with weaker effects for high-level (g = 0.29; for example, self-conscious emotions) than low-level emotions (g= 0.64; for example, basic emotions). Level of abstraction only attenuated the experience of low-level emotions (g = 0.2) and showed a reverse (nonsignificant) effect for high-level emotions (g = -0.13). These results highlight differences between distancing and level-of-abstraction manipulations and the importance of considering the type of emotion experienced in emotion regulation.

Valence of Temporal Self-Appraisals: A Comparison Between First-Person Perspective and Third-Person Perspective

Mental time travel is one of the most remarkable achievements of mankind. On the one hand, people perceive past self, present self, and future self as a continuous unity; on the other hand, people have the ability to distinguish among the three types of temporal selves because there are different representations of them. In this study, we used an adapted temporal self-reference paradigm to explore the processing mechanism of different temporal selves. Temporal self-reference was performed from the first-person perspective in Experiment 1 and from the third-person perspective in Experiment 2. The results indicated that people showed a more positive bias toward future self compared with past self and present self no matter in the first-person perspective or third-person perspective. There was no difference in recognition rate among past self, present self, and future self. Compared with the first-person perspective, present self-processing in the third-person perspective was more abstract and generalized, which may reflect that the third-person perspective has the same distancing function as time. This study can deepen understandings on temporal self-appraisals from different perspectives.

Decoding subjective emotional arousal from EEG during an immersive virtual reality experience

Immersive virtual reality (VR) enables naturalistic neuroscientific studies while maintaining experimental control, but dynamic and interactive stimuli pose methodological challenges. We here probed the link between emotional arousal, a fundamental property of affective experience, and parieto-occipital alpha power under naturalistic stimulation: 37 young healthy adults completed an immersive VR experience, which included rollercoaster rides, while their EEG was recorded. They then continuously rated their subjective emotional arousal while viewing a replay of their experience. The association between emotional arousal and parieto-occipital alpha power was tested and confirmed by (1) decomposing the continuous EEG signal while maximizing the comodulation between alpha power and arousal ratings and by (2) decoding periods of high and low arousal with discriminative common spatial patterns and a long short-term memory recurrent neural network. We successfully combine EEG and a naturalistic immersive VR experience to extend previous findings on the neurophysiology of emotional arousal towards real-world neuroscience.

Imagery Rescripting of Autobiographical Memories Versus Intrusive Images in Individuals with Disordered Eating

Background

This study compared the effect of imagery rescripting (ImRs) of early autobiographical memories to ImRs of intrusive images and a no task control condition on eating disorder (ED) related core beliefs and ED symptoms in individuals at risk of developing an eating disorder. We qualitatively explored the content of ImRs scripts.

Method

Participants (N = 66, 87.8% females) were allocated to one of three conditions: ImRs of autobiographical memories, ImRs of intrusive images, or a no task control condition. Participants in the ImRs conditions received a 9-min self-guided ImRs intervention in the lab and practiced ImRs daily for the next 6 days online. Participants in the no task control condition took a 9-min break and did not do any further tasks. All participants attended a follow-up testing 1 week after the lab session.

Results

Both ImRs manipulations resulted in greater reductions in negative core beliefs and ED symptoms compared to the no task control group. However, there were no differences among the two ImRs groups. The most widely used rescripting strategy was self-compassion, followed by unhealthy, ED-confirming strategies. No significant associations were found between the ImRs strategies and any of the outcome measures.

Conclusion

ImRs may be a promising intervention for individuals with disordered eating and both early memories as well as intrusive images may be useful targets.

Visual perspective as a two-dimensional construct in episodic future thought

Visual perspective (first-person vs. third-person) is a salient characteristic of memory and mental imagery with important cognitive and behavioural consequences. Most work on visual perspective treats it as a unidimensional construct. However, third-person perspective can have opposite effects on emotion and motivation, sometimes intensifying these and other times acting as a distancing mechanism, as in PTSD. For this reason among others, we propose that visual perspective in memory and mental imagery is best understood as varying along two dimensions: first, the degree to which first-person perspective predominates in the episodic imagery, and second, the degree to which the self is visually salient from a third-person perspective. We show that, in episodic future thinking, these are anticorrelated but non-redundant. These results further our basic understanding of the potent but divergent effects visual perspective has on emotion and motivation, both in everyday life and in psychiatric conditions.

The stability of visual perspective and vividness during mental time travel

When remembering or imagining, people can experience an event from their own eyes, or as an outside observer, with differing levels of vividness. The perspective from, and vividness with, which a person remembers or imagines has been related to numerous individual difference characteristics. These findings require that phenomenology during mental time travel be trait-like-that people consistently experience similar perspectives and levels of vividness. This assumption remains untested. Across two studies (combined N = 295), we examined the stability of visual perspective and vividness across multiple trials and timepoints. Perspective and vividness showed weak within-session stability when reported across just a few trials but showed strong within-session stability when sufficient trials were collected. Importantly, both visual perspective and vividness demonstrated good-to-excellent across-session stability across different delay intervals (two days to six weeks). Overall, our results suggest that people dependably experience similar visual phenomenology across occurrences of mental time travel.

The Association Between Test Anxiety, Self-Efficacy, and Mental Images Among University Students: Results From an Online Survey

Background and Objectives: A substantial portion of students report test anxiety, and those reporting low levels of self-efficacy seem to be especially affected. Previous research has indicated the relevance of mental images in the maintenance of anxiety disorders, however, no data are available with respect to test anxiety. In order to close this gap, the present study investigates the association between test anxiety, self-efficacy and mental images. Method: One hundred sixty-three university students completed an online survey. Test anxiety (PAF), general self-efficacy (WIRKALL-r), study-related self-efficacy (WIRK_STUD), intrusiveness of mental images (IFES), spontaneous use of imagery (SUIS) and vividness of imagery (VVIQ) were examined. Results: Test-related mental images were frequently reported among the surveyed students. Test anxiety showed a positive correlation with IFES and a negative correlation with self-efficacy. Mediation analyses showed that about one fifth of the influence of self-efficacy on test anxiety is mediated by IFES. Discussion: The present study gives first indication about an association between test anxiety, self-efficacy and mental images, even though the results are limited with respect to generalizability. Further investigations with respect to the impact of test-related mental images on the self-efficacy/test-anxiety linkage are needed.

How visual perspective influences the spatiotemporal dynamics of autobiographical memory retrieval

Visual perspective, recalling events from one's own eyes or one of several possible observer viewpoints, is a fundamental aspect of AM. Yet, exactly how visual perspective influences the functional mechanisms supporting retrieval is unclear. Here we used a multivariate analysis to characterize the spatiotemporal dynamics of networks supporting AM retrieval from multiple typical and atypical visual perspectives. Both own eyes and observer perspectives engaged an AM retrieval network (i.e., hippocampus, anterior and posterior midline, and lateral frontal and posterior cortices) that peaked during later retrieval periods, but was recruited less strongly for observer perspectives. Functional connectivity analyses with an anterior hippocampal seed revealed that visual perspective also affected the strength and timing of neural recruitment. There was stronger hippocampal connectivity with a posterior medial network during the initial retrieval of AMs from atypical observer perspectives and stronger within-MTL and ventromedial prefrontal cortex connectivity during later retrieval periods from own eyes perspectives, suggesting that visual perspective is an important factor in understanding how neocortical systems guide memory retrieval. Our findings demonstrate that adopting own eyes and observer perspectives during AM retrieval is correlated with distinct patterns of hippocampal-neocortical interactions associated with differential recruitment of the AM retrieval network during later retrieval periods, thereby supporting the central role of visual perspective in reconstructing the personal past.

Manipulating visual perspective for obsessional imagery and its impact on obsessive-compulsive symptoms in an analogue sample

Visual perspective may have an important role in the phenomenology of intrusive images relevant to psychological disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The aim of the current study was to examine the subjective and behavioural effects of manipulating visual perspective, to either field or observer, on intrusive images related to doubting and contamination concerns. One hundred and twelve undergraduate participants with high levels OCD symptoms were asked to identify and imagine an intrusive image related to either doubting or contamination concerns. We then randomly assigned them to re-visualise their image from either a field (first-person) or observer (third-person) visual perspective. Participants shifted towards using an observer perspective demonstrated a greater decrease on ratings of subjective measures of image-related distress, prospective likelihood of the image occurring, and urges to suppress the image, relative to those shifted to a field perspective. In addition, those in the observer perspective evidenced a greater decrease on behavioural indices relevant to OCD, such as reduced frequency of the intrusive image and decreased efforts to neutralise the image. We discuss implications for imagery in OCD.

Observing the self, avoiding the experience? The role of the observer perspective in autobiographical recall and its relationship to depression in adolescence

The tendency to adopt an observer perspective (OP) when recalling autobiographical memories has been shown to be related to both avoidance and depression in adults. Very little research has examined this relationship in adolescents, however, and none of this work has adopted a longitudinal paradigm. This is an important gap in light of the marked escalation in rates of depression across the adolescent period. The current study therefore examined the concurrent and longitudinal (one year) relationships between observer perspective in the Minimal Instruction Autobiographical Memory Test (Mi-AMT; Debeer, E., Hermans, D., & Raes, F. (2009). Associations between components of rumination and autobiographical memory specificity as measured by a minimal instructions autobiographical memory test. Memory, 17(8), 892-903. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658210903376243), avoidance, and depression in a large, longitudinal sample of adolescents (mean age = 15.03 at T1). Consistent with predictions we found a significant but small cross-sectional correlation between OP and higher levels of depressive symptoms, however the relationship with avoidance was not significant. Contrary to predictions, the longitudinal relationships of OP with avoidance and depression were not significant. These findings raise the possibility that OP may be negligibly related to avoidance or depression during adolescence.

Abstract processing of a positive memory is associated with recalling positive memories from an observer perspective

ruminative processing and recalling memories from an observer perspective represent two cognitive processes with adverse consequences in depression. However, no study to date has investigated the interrelationship of abstract processing, observer perspective and depression symptoms in the context of recalling personal emotional (positive, negative) memories, nor imagining emotional future events. An unselected online sample (N = 342) of participants was randomly allocated to one of four conditions: to recall a memory of a positive or negative event, or to imagine a future positive or negative event. Participants rated the vantage perspective from which they recalled or imagined the event, and the extent to which they engaged in abstract processing about it. For positive memories, a positive correlation emerged between abstract processing of the memory and observer recall; this relationship remained significant when depression symptoms were controlled. Abstract processing and vantage perspective were unrelated in the remaining three conditions. Whilst our findings await replication with a clinical sample to confirm generalisability to depressed individuals, they underscore the importance of investigating cognitive processes that influence positive memory recall and provide preliminary evidence that abstract processing of a positive memory is related to recalling the memory from an observer perspective.

Do depressive symptoms and subjective well-being influence the valence or visual perspective of autobiographical memories in young adults?

The present study examines predictors of autobiographical memory valence and visual perspective. Participants (N = 144) between the ages of 18-35 years completed an online survey assessing depressive symptoms, and different aspects of subjective well-being (i.e., life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect). Participants retrieved six autobiographical memories cued via positive, negative, and neutral words and completed a questionnaire assessing characteristics of the memories, including memory valence and visual perspective. Using structural equation modelling, we found that the valence of neutral cued memories were significantly negatively associated with depressive symptoms and negative affect, and significantly positively associated with life satisfaction, even after controlling for current mood. Depressive symptoms were generally not significantly related to visual perspective. These results support previous findings that depressive symptoms and well-being are related to differences in memory characteristics but suggest that some of the relationships may be less robust when examined in a non-clinical sample.

Scenes enable a sense of reliving: Implications for autobiographical memory

Autobiographical memory has been defined by the phenomenological properties of reliving, vividness, and belief that an event occurred. Neuropsychological damage that results in the inability to recall the layout of a scene also results in amnesia suggesting a possible milder effect in people without such neurological damage. Based on this and other observations, we hypothesized that the degree to which the layout of a scene is recalled will correlate positively with ratings of reliving, vividness, and belief, and will explain more variance in multiple regressions than recalling the scene's contents. We also hypothesized that a lack of layout underlies nonspecific autobiographical memories which are common in aging, future events, and clinical disorders, whereas currently such memories are most commonly measured by reports of extended duration. We tested these theory-driven novel hypotheses in three studies to replicate our results. In each study, approximately 200 participants rated the layout, content, and other properties of personal events. Correlational analyses in each study and a structural equation model for the combined studies provide strong support for the role of mental scene construction in an integrative neurocognitive approach to clarify cognitive theory and clinical phenomena.

Belief in memories may be relinquished as often for adulthood as for childhood events, but for different reasons

The age distribution of nonbelieved memories (NBMs) reported by young and older adults typically reflects a large proportion of events dated to childhood. The present study aimed to further investigate the age of origin of NBMs by using instructions that include an NBM related to adulthood. Participants aged from 40 to 80 years were asked to describe an NBM, to explain why they had stopped believing their memory, and to rate its phenomenal characteristics. Participants also described and rated an age-matched believed memory (BM). The results revealed a similar proportion of nonbelieved events experienced in childhood and adulthood, thus calling into question the hypothesis that NBMs are mainly related to childhood events. We also found that NBMs might emerge for different reasons depending on the time of events. Additional analyses indicated that, overall, the influence of temporal distance on the ratings of phenomenal characteristics was similar for BMs and NBMs.

Visual Perspectives in Episodic Memory and the Sense of Self

The connection between memory and self-consciousness has been a central topic in philosophy of memory. When remembering an event we experienced in the past, not only do we experience being the subject of the conscious episode, but we also experience being the protagonist in the memory scene. This is the “phenomenal presence of self.” To explore this special sense of self in memory, this paper focuses on the issue of how one identifies oneself in episodic simulation at the retrieval of memory and draws attention to the field and observer perspectives in episodic memory. Metzinger (2013a,b, 2017) recently introduced the concept of the phenomenal unit of identification (UI) to characterize the phenomenal property that gives rise to the conscious experience of “I am this.” This paper shows how observer-perspective remembering provides an interesting opportunity for studying the sense of self. It is argued that observer-perspective remembering is a stable state of consciousness that is distinct from autoscopic phenomena with respect to the dimensions of minimal phenomenal self (MPS). Together, the notion of UI and the particular style of remembering offer a way of understanding the phenomenal presence of self, and three possible ways in which phenomenal properties constitute UI in memory are raised. The study of perspectives in episodic simulation may prompt new empirical and conceptual issues concerning both the sense of identity and the relationship between MPS and extended self.

Vantage perspective in analogue trauma memories: an experimental study

Vantage perspective during recall is thought to affect the emotionality and accessibility of distressing memories. This study aimed to test the effects of vantage perspective during recall on memory associated distress and intrusion development. An adapted version of the trauma film paradigm was used in an experimental design with three conditions. Participants were asked to listen to eyewitness reports of car accidents (e.g. Trauma Analogue Induction) and imagine the scenes vividly using mental imagery. Afterwards, they were asked to recall the most distressing scene from field perspective, observer perspective, or to recall a neutral image from observer perspective (control condition) (e.g. Trauma Analogue Recall). Recall from field perspective resulted in higher negative mood, state-anxiety, and a higher number of short-term intrusions compared to the observer perspective condition and control condition. Negative mood and state-anxiety were mediators in the relationship between vantage perspective and intrusions. In comparison to observer perspective, field perspective increased the amount of short-term intrusions as a result of higher levels of negative mood and state-anxiety after memory retrieval. Future research on the interaction between vantage perspective at recall and negative mood and anxiety effects is warranted.

How thinking about what could have been affects how we feel about what was

Episodic counterfactual thoughts (CFT) and autobiographical memories (AM) involve the reactivation and recombination of episodic memory components into mental simulations. Upon reactivation, memories become labile and prone to modification. Thus, reactivating AM in the context of mentally generating CFT may provide an opportunity for editing processes to modify the content of the original memory. To examine this idea, this paper reports the results of two studies that investigated the effect of reactivating negative and positive AM in the context of either imagining a better (i.e. upward CFT) or a worse (i.e. downward CFT) alternative to an experienced event, as opposed to attentively retrieving the memory without mental modification (i.e. remembering) or no reactivation. Our results suggest that attentive remembering was the best strategy to both reduce the negative affect associated with negative AM, and to prevent the decay of positive affect associated with positive AM. In addition, reactivating positive, but not negative, AM with or without CFT modification reduces the perceived arousal of the original memory over time. Finally, reactivating negative AM in a downward CFT or an attentive remembering condition increases the perceived detail of the original memory over time.

Is It Possible to Enhance Intensity in Guided Imagery Exercises? An Experimental Study

OBJECTIVE

Guided imagery exercises can have a powerful impact on distressing mental images. Clinically, it is usually recommended to experience these exercises as intensely as possible. However, patients sometimes object to the related instructions. In this study, we tested whether typical clinical instructions aiming at increasing intensity led to a stronger effect of the exercise.

METHODS

Sixty-four healthy participants watched a trauma movie clip. Then they were pseudo-randomized into one of two strategies (intense, less intense) or a waiting control condition. Dependent variables were self-reported emotional intensity and psychophysiology measures.

RESULTS

Participants in the intense ImRS strategy did not experience the exercise as more intense than those in the less intense ImRS strategy on any outcome measure. Both ImRS strategies showed increased sympathetic activation compared to a decrease of activation in the waiting control group.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that emotional intensity in guided imagery exercises may not depend very much on the therapist's instructions.

Association between intrusive negative autobiographical memories and depression: A meta-analytic investigation

The study investigated several associations between depression and intrusive negative autobiographical memories. A systematic literature search identified 23 eligible studies (N = 2,582), which provided 59 effect sizes. Separate meta-analyses indicated that depression was moderately, positively associated with intrusive memory frequency, memory distress, maladaptive memory appraisals, memory avoidance, and memory rumination. Intrusive memory vividness was not significantly associated with depression. There were insufficient data to examine the relationship between depression and memory vantage perspective. Between-study heterogeneity was high for intrusive memory frequency and memory avoidance, and the percentage of females in studies significantly moderated the relationship between these variables and depression. An additional exploratory meta-analysis (3 studies; N = 257) indicated that intrusive memories were experienced more frequently by those with posttraumatic stress disorder than those with depression. Overall, the findings suggest that intrusive memories warrant clinical attention as they may contribute to the maintenance of depressive symptomatology.

Switching memory perspective

The perspective in which memories were spontaneously recalled, field (original perspective) or observer (see oneself in the memory), was examined for both recent and remote memories. Recent memories were dominated by field perspective whilst remote memories were dominated by observer perspective. Further, field memories contained reliably more episodic detail than observer memories. After a 1-week interval, the same memories were recalled again but with a switched memory perspective. Switching from an observer to a field perspective did not reliably increase the amount of episodic details in a memory. Switching from field to observer perspective did, however, reliably reduce the number of episodic details. These findings suggest that memories may be represented in long-term memory with a fixed perspective, either field or observer, which can be temporarily altered sometimes changing the nature of a memory, i.e. how much detail remains accessible.

Treatment of Intrusive Suicidal Imagery Using Eye Movements

Suicide and suicidal behavior are major public health concerns, and affect 3–9% of the population worldwide. Despite increased efforts for national suicide prevention strategies, there are still few effective interventions available for reducing suicide risk. In this article, we describe various theoretical approaches for suicide ideation and behavior, and propose to examine the possible effectiveness of a new and innovative preventive strategy. A model of suicidal intrusion (mental imagery related to suicide, also referred to as suicidal flash-forwards) is presented describing one of the assumed mechanisms in the etiology of suicide and the mechanism of therapeutic change. We provide a brief rationale for an Eye Movement Dual Task (EMDT) treatment for suicidal intrusions, describing techniques that can be used to target these suicidal mental images and thoughts to reduce overall behavior. Based on the available empirical evidence for the mechanisms of suicidal intrusions, this approach appears to be a promising new treatment to prevent suicidal behavior as it potentially targets one of the linking pins between suicidal ideation and suicidal actions.

Remembering and imagining alternative versions of the personal past

Although autobiographical memory and episodic simulations recruit similar core brain regions, episodic simulations engage additional neural recruitment in the frontoparietal control network due to greater demands on constructive processes. However, previous functional neuroimaging studies showing differences in remembering and episodic simulation have focused on veridical retrieval of past experiences, and thus have not fully considered how retrieving the past in different ways from how it was originally experienced may also place similar demands on constructive processes. Here we examined how alternative versions of the past are constructed when adopting different egocentric perspectives during autobiographical memory retrieval compared to simulating hypothetical events from the personal past that could have occurred, or episodic counterfactual thinking. Participants were asked to generate titles for specific autobiographical memories from the last five years, and then, during functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) scanning, were asked to repeatedly retrieve autobiographical memories or imagine counterfactual events cued by the titles. We used an fMRI adaptation paradigm in order to isolate neural regions that were sensitive to adopting alternative egocentric perspectives and counterfactual simulations of the personal past. The fMRI results revealed that voxels within left posterior inferior parietal and ventrolateral frontal cortices were sensitive to novel visual perspectives and counterfactual simulations. Our findings suggest that the neural regions supporting remembering become more similar to those underlying episodic simulation when we adopt alternative egocentric perspectives of the veridical past.

Shifting visual perspective during memory retrieval reduces the accuracy of subsequent memories

Memories for events can be retrieved from visual perspectives that were never experienced, reflecting the dynamic and reconstructive nature of memories. Characteristics of memories can be altered when shifting from an own eyes perspective, the way most events are initially experienced, to an observer perspective, in which one sees oneself in the memory. Moreover, recent evidence has linked these retrieval-related effects of visual perspective to subsequent changes in memories. Here we examine how shifting visual perspective influences the accuracy of subsequent memories for complex events encoded in the lab. Participants performed a series of mini-events that were experienced from their own eyes, and were later asked to retrieve memories for these events while maintaining the own eyes perspective or shifting to an alternative observer perspective. We then examined how shifting perspective during retrieval modified memories by influencing the accuracy of recall on a final memory test. Across two experiments, we found that shifting visual perspective reduced the accuracy of subsequent memories and that reductions in vividness when shifting visual perspective during retrieval predicted these changes in the accuracy of memories. Our findings suggest that shifting from an own eyes to an observer perspective influences the accuracy of long-term memories.

Imagining possible selves across time: Characteristics of self-images and episodic thoughts

Thinking about our possible selves can entail thinking about self-related imagined future events. When remembering and imagining, individuals can use both 1st person (field) and 3rd person (observer) perspectives. There is currently a paucity of research examining the visual perspectives of episodic future thoughts that represent possible selves. We hypothesised that temporally distant self-images would elicit more observer perspectives in episodic thoughts than temporally near self-images and current self-images. Utilising a repeated measures design, sixty-eight undergraduate students completed IAM, I Will Be near and I Will Be far conditions (Rathbone, Conway, & Moulin, 2011) to generate self-images and their related episodic thoughts. It was found that episodic qualities were reliably affected by different self-images. Specifically, observer perspective predilections increased with future temporal distance. Findings are discussed in relation to self-continuity with recommended practical applications of visual perspective utilisation for wellbeing.