Self, memory, and the self-reference effect: an examination of conceptual and methodological issues

Symmetrical choices and biased confidence during uncertain personality trait judgments

While great methodological strides have been made in the area of decision making research, decisions that rely on subjective stimuli, such as personality traits, still pose a challenge for researchers, partly because it is difficult to define a standard of accuracy for such choices-they lack a "ground truth". In studies on value-based decisions, this same problem has been circumvented by comparing uncertain subjective decisions against a separately assessed judgment of value-a "standard". Here we apply this method in a task of verbal personality trait judgment, and show how a separately assessed standard judgment can be used to precisely control stimulus presentation and analyze subjective personality choices via the method of reverse correlation. Per trial, a series of quasi-randomly sampled adjectives was shown, which participants categorized as more descriptive of either themselves of another person well known to them. Participants also indicated their confidence in the response. Each trial's difficulty was controlled based on the previously assessed standard judgment. Analysis of the behavioral data shows several decision-general properties during these personality judgments, such as symmetrical choices, steeper choice functions for confident trials, and a positive evidence bias during confidence judgment. We discuss how these findings can shed light on the cognitive processes involved in personality perception. The task and results together may help bridge the gap between research on complex, social forms of judgment and findings on more basic decision processes.

The ownership memory self-reference effect shifts recognition criterion but not recognition sensitivity

Information referenced to the self is retrieved more accurately than information referenced to others, known as the memory self-reference effect. It is unclear, however, whether social context (identity of the other) or task factors alter decision-making processes. In a virtual object allocation task, female participants sorted objects into their own or another's (stranger or mother) basket based on a colour cue. Subsequently, they performed a recognition memory task in which they first indicated whether each object was old or new, and then whether it had been allocated to themselves or to the other. We obtained owner-specific hit rates and false-alarm rates and applied signal detection theory to derive separate recognition sensitivity (d') and recognition criterion parameters (c) for self- and other-owned objects. While there was no clear evidence of a recognition self-reference effect, or a change in sensitivity, participants adopted a more conservative recognition criterion for self- compared with other-owned objects, and particularly when the other-referent was the participant's mother compared with the stranger. Moreover, when discriminating whether the originally presented objects were self- or other-owned, participants were biased toward ascribing ownership to the 'other'. We speculate that these findings reflect ownership-based changes in decisional processing during the recognition memory self-reference paradigm.

The Self-Reference Effect in Metamemory and the Role of Beliefs in This Process

Previous research has shown a clear self-reference effect in our memory. However, the question arises as to whether this effect could extend to higher cognitive domains such as metamemory. Thus, this study examined the effects of different encoding types on judgments of learning (JOLs) and explored the role of beliefs in this process. A one-way (encoding type: semantic, self-referential) within-participants design was employed in Experiment 1, which found no self-reference effect in JOLs. In Experiment 2, we manipulated participants' beliefs to explore their effect on JOLs under different encoding strategies. The results showed that learners' metamemory beliefs about encoding types influence JOLs. Learners who believed that self-referential and semantic encoding had the same memory effect tended to give equal JOLs to both words. However, learners who believed that self-referential encoding had a better memory effect than semantic encoding gave higher JOLs to self-referentially encoded words. The conclusions are as follows: There is no self-reference effect in JOLs, but learners' metamemory beliefs about encoding types influence JOLs.

On the neural networks of self and other bias and their role in emergent social interactions

Extensive research has documented the brain networks that play an integral role in bias, or the alteration and filtration of information processing in a manner that fundamentally favors an individual. The roots of bias, whether self- or other-oriented, are a complex constellation of neural and psychological processes that start at the most fundamental levels of sensory processing. From the millisecond information is received in the brain it is filtered at various levels and through various brain networks in relation to extant intrinsic activity to provide individuals with a perception of reality that complements and satisfies the conscious perceptions they have for themselves and the cultures in which they were reared. The products of these interactions, in turn, are dynamically altered by the introduction of others, be they friends or strangers who are similar or different in socially meaningful ways. While much is known about the various ways that basic biases alter specific aspects of neural function to support various forms of bias, the breadth and scope of the phenomenon remains entirely unclear. The purpose of this review is to examine the brain networks that shape (i.e., bias) the self-concept and how interactions with similar (ingroup) compared to dissimilar (outgroup) others alter these network (and subsequent interpersonal) interactions in fundamental ways. Throughout, focus is placed on an emerging understanding of the brain as a complex system, which suggests that many of these network interactions likely occur on a non-linear scale that blurs the lines between network hierarchies.

Dimensions of a hyper memory: investigating the factors modulating exceptional retrieval in a single case of highly superior autobiographical memory (HSAM)

Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM) is a rare form of exceptional memory, characterised by an ability to recall personal episodes in response to dates. The single case "DT" is one of less than 100 HSAM individuals globally, and little is known about how these individuals organise the vast number of events they can recollect. We administered 2 novel priming tasks to explore navigation between autobiographical memories. In both tasks, a "prime" date appeared on the screen and DT was instructed to access and begin reliving a specific memory from that date. After 3 s, a "target" date appeared, and DT switched to the new memory. Latencies were recorded. Experiment 1 explored the influence of emotional valence on memory navigation. DT was quicker moving from positive or negative memories to neutral memories, compared to between neutral memories, supporting the role of emotionality in connecting memories in HSAM. Experiment 2 investigated semantic content and mental timeline configuration's role in organisation. DT was faster moving forward (e.g., 1996-1997) than backwards (e.g., 2023-2022), indicating a forwards perception of time. No differences were observed regarding semantic content. Results provide insight into DT's memory dimensions and support the use of this task to explore organisation.

Making Sense of Law: Critical Reflection on Neuroscience, Socialization, and Self

The development of sociotechnical codes by the legal system acts as a marker of good citizens and development of self where social norms matter. In most cases, despite cultural differences, socialization plays an important role in making sense of law. The question is, 'how does law come to mind and what is the role of brain? This question will be dealt keeping the debate on brain determinism and free will critically at the forefront.

Self-relevance enhances susceptibility to false memory

Eyewitness testimony serves as important evidence in the legal system. Eyewitnesses of a crime can be either the victims themselves-for whom the experience is highly self-referential-or can be bystanders who witness and thus encode the crime in relation to others. There is a gap in past research investigating whether processing information in relation to oneself versus others would later impact people's suggestibility to misleading information. In two experiments (Ns = 68 and 122) with Dutch and Chinese samples, we assessed whether self-reference of a crime event (i.e., victim vs. bystander) affected their susceptibility to false memory creation. Using a misinformation procedure, we photoshopped half of the participants' photographs into a crime slideshow so that they saw themselves as victims of a nonviolent crime, while others watched the slideshow as mock bystander witnesses. In both experiments, participants displayed a self-enhanced suggestibility effect: Participants who viewed themselves as victims created more false memories after receiving misinformation than those who witnessed the same crime as bystanders. These findings suggest that self-reference might constitute a hitherto new risk factor in the formation of false memories when evaluating eyewitness memory reports.

The formation of episodic autobiographical memory is predicted by mental imagery, self-reference, and anticipated details

Introduction

Despite the ecological nature of episodic memory (EM) and the importance of consolidation in its functioning, studies tackling both subjects are still scarce. Therefore, the present study aims at establishing predictions of the future of newly encoded information in EM in an ecological paradigm.

Methods

Participants recorded two personal events per day with a SenseCam portable camera, for 10 days, and characterized the events with different subjective scales (emotional valence and intensity, self-concept and self-relevance, perspective and anticipated details at a month, mental images…). They then performed a surprise free recall at 5 days and 1 month after encoding. Machine learning algorithms were used to predict the future of events (episodic or forgotten) in memory at 1 month.

Results

The best algorithm showed an accuracy of 78%, suggesting that such a prediction is reliably possible. Variables that best differentiated between episodic and forgotten memories at 1 month were mental imagery, self-reference, and prospection (anticipated details) at encoding and the first free recall.

Discussion

These results may establish the basis for the development of episodic autobiographical memory during daily experiences.

Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM): A Systematic Review

Individuals possessing a Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM) demonstrate an exceptional ability to recall their own past, excelling most when dates from their lifetime are used as retrieval cues. Fully understanding how neurocognitive mechanisms support exceptional memory could lead to benefits in areas of healthcare in which memory plays a central role and in legal fields reliant on witnesses' memories. Predominantly due to the rareness of the phenomenon, existing HSAM literature is highly heterogenous in its methodologies used. Therefore, following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, we performed the first systematic review on this topic, to collate the existing behavioural, neuroanatomical, and functional HSAM data. Results from the 20 experimental selected studies revealed that HSAM is categorised by rapidly retrieved, detailed and accurate autobiographical memories, and appears to avoid the normal aging process. Functional neuroimaging studies showed HSAM retrieval seems characterised by an intense overactivation of the usual autobiographical memory network, including posterior visual areas (e.g., the precuneus). Structural neuroanatomical differences do not appear to characterise HSAM, but altered hippocampal resting-state connectivity was commonly observed. We discuss theories of HSAM in relation to autobiographical encoding, consolidation, and retrieval, and suggest future directions for this research.

Remember walking in their shoes? The relation of self-referential source memory and emotion recognition

Deficits in the ability to read the emotions of others have been demonstrated in mental disorders, such as dissociation and schizophrenia, which involve a distorted sense of self. This study examined whether weakened self-referential source memory, being unable to remember whether a piece of information has been processed with reference to oneself, is linked to ineffective emotion recognition. In two samples from a college and community, we quantified the participants' ability to remember the self-generated versus non-self-generated origins of sentences they had previously read or partially generated. We also measured their ability to read others' emotions accurately when viewing photos of people in affect-charged situations. Multinomial processing tree modelling was applied to obtain a measure of self-referential source memory that was not biased by non-mnemonic factors. Our first experiment with college participants revealed a positive correlation between correctly remembering the origins of sentences and accurately recognising the emotions of others. This correlation was successfully replicated in the second experiment with community participants. The current study offers evidence of a link between self-referential source memory and emotion recognition.

Investigating the Influence of Assessment Question Framing on Undergraduate Biology Student Preference and Affect

Nearly all undergraduate biology courses rely on quizzes and exams. Despite their prevalence, very little work has been done to explore how the framing of assessment questions may influence student performance and affect. Here, we conduct a quasi-random experimental study where students in different sections of the same course were given isomorphic questions that varied in their framing of experimental scenarios. One section was provided a description using the self-referential term "you", placing the student in the experiment; another section received the same scenario that used classmate names; while a third section's scenario integrated counterstereotypical scientist names. Our results demonstrate that there was no difference in performance throughout the semester between the sections, nor were there differences in students' self-reported stress and identity. However, students in all three sections indicated that they most preferred the self-referential framing, providing a variety of reasons that suggest that these variants may influence how well a student reads and processes the question. In addition, our results also indicate that the framing of these scenarios can also have a large impact on some students' affect and attitude toward the question. We conclude by discussing implications for the biology education research community and biology instructors.

Neurophysiological explorations across the spectrum of psychosis, autism, and depression, during wakefulness and sleep: protocol of a prospective case-control transdiagnostic multimodal study (DEMETER)

BACKGROUND

Quantitative electroencephalography (EEG) analysis offers the opportunity to study high-level cognitive processes across psychiatric disorders. In particular, EEG microstates translate the temporal dynamics of neuronal networks throughout the brain. Their alteration may reflect transdiagnostic anomalies in neurophysiological functions that are impaired in mood, psychosis, and autism spectrum disorders, such as sensorimotor integration, speech, sleep, and sense of self. The main questions this study aims to answer are as follows: 1) Are EEG microstate anomalies associated with clinical and functional prognosis, both in resting conditions and during sleep, across psychiatric disorders? 2) Are EEG microstate anomalies associated with differences in sensorimotor integration, speech, sense of self, and sleep? 3) Can the dynamic of EEG microstates be modulated by a non-drug intervention such as light hypnosis?

METHODS

This prospective cohort will include a population of adolescents and young adults, aged 15 to 30 years old, with ultra-high-risk of psychosis (UHR), first-episode psychosis (FEP), schizophrenia (SCZ), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and major depressive disorder (MDD), as well as healthy controls (CTRL) (N = 21 × 6), who will be assessed at baseline and after one year of follow-up. Participants will undergo deep phenotyping based on psychopathology, neuropsychological assessments, 64-channel EEG recordings, and biological sampling at the two timepoints. At baseline, the EEG recording will also be coupled to a sensorimotor task and a recording of the characteristics of their speech (prosody and turn-taking), a one-night polysomnography, a self-reference effect task in virtual reality (only in UHR, FEP, and CTRL). An interventional ancillary study will involve only healthy controls, in order to assess whether light hypnosis can modify the EEG microstate architecture in a direction opposite to what is seen in disease.

DISCUSSION

This transdiagnostic longitudinal case-control study will provide a multimodal neurophysiological assessment of clinical dimensions (sensorimotor integration, speech, sleep, and sense of self) that are disrupted across mood, psychosis, and autism spectrum disorders. It will further test the relevance of EEG microstates as dimensional functional biomarkers.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT06045897.

How far can the self be extended? Automatic attention capture is triggered not only by the self-face

The preferential processing of self-related information is thought to be driven by its high level of familiarity. However, some behavioral studies have shown that people may exhibit a preference for initially unfamiliar stimuli that have been associated with themselves arbitrarily. One of the key questions that needs to be addressed concerns the role of early attention in the prioritization of newly acquired information associated with the self. Another question is whether both highly familiar as well as new information referring to a subjectively significant person (i.e. close-other) benefits from preferential attentional processing. We aimed to tackle both questions by investigating the neural mechanisms involved in processing extremely familiar stimuli, like one's own face or the face of a close-other, as well as stimuli (abstract shapes) that were newly linked to each person. We used a dot-probe paradigm that allowed us to investigate the early stages of attentional prioritization. Our analysis of the N2pc component unveiled that attention was automatically captured by the self-face, a shape associated with oneself, and the face of the close person. However, a shape associated with the close-other did not elicit the same attentional response, as the N2pc was absent. Thus, both the self-face and information referring to the extended self (self-assigned shape, close-other's face) benefit from preferential early and automatic attentional processing.

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.

Destination Memory for Self-Related Information: When I Tell Elvis Presley about My Favorite Food

Destination memory, the ability to remember to whom information was previously delivered, has found to be influenced by social processing and social interactions. This memory has also been shown to be compromised in normal aging. Our paper investigated whether older adults would demonstrate better destination memory for self-related information than for general information.

METHODS

We asked younger adults and older adults to tell self-related information (e.g., "I like Chinese food") and semantic information (e.g., "the moon is smaller than the sun") to pictures of celebrities (e.g., Elvis Presley).

RESULTS

Analysis showed higher destination memory for self-related information than for semantic information in older adults and younger adults.

DISCUSSION

Older adults may draw on self-related information to improve memory and social interactions.

My child and I: self- and child-reference effects among parents with self-worth contingent on children's performance

Research shows that parents' self-worth may be contingent on their children's performance, with implications for their interactions with children. This study examined whether such child-based worth is manifested in parents' recognition memory. Parents of school-age children in China (N = 527) reported on their child-based worth and completed a recognition memory task involving evaluative trait adjectives encoded in three conditions: self-reference, child-reference, and semantic processing. The more parents had child-based worth, the more they exhibited a child-reference effect - superior recognition memory of evaluative trait adjectives encoded with reference to the child rather than semantically. Parents exhibited the classic self-reference effect in comparisons of recognition memory between the self-reference and semantic processing conditions, but this effect was not evidenced among parents high in child-based worth. Only parents low in child-based worth exhibited the self-reference effect in comparisons between the self-reference and child-reference conditions. Findings suggest that when parents hinge their self-worth on children's performance, evaluative information related to children may be an elaborate structure in memory.

Time is of the essence: past selves are not prioritized even when selective discrimination costs are controlled for

The perceptual Self-Prioritization effect (SPE) refers to an advantage in attending to stimuli associated with the self relative to those associated with another individual. In the perceptual matching task, arbitrary pairings between oneself and other persons, and a geometric shape need to be learned. Apart from the SPE, this task also produces high matching performance for a close other. While cognitive representations of past selves are sometimes viewed as resembling that of an intimate other, and while there is some evidence that other types of psychological closeness modulate the SPE, it remains unclear whether such prioritization effects extend to past selves. Previous experiments on this topic required participants to distinguish between different points in time within the same task, raising the possibility that potential past self-prioritization was masked by task difficulty. In our experiment, we addressed this potential confound by presenting N = 118 participants with a simpler version of the matching task. We re-investigated self-prioritization in perceptual matching under conditions of mental time travel to the past. In line with previous evidence, we found clear prioritization of present selves, which was evident in response times, accuracies and the efficiency of practice. Performance was consistently poorest for the past self, indicating not only a lack of privileged processing, but rather a relative de-prioritization. Performance was not improved by either increased proximity of the time period in question, nor by experimenter-induced re-imagining of the self. Our results do not support a perceptual prioritization of past selves.

Social value orientation modulates behavioral and neural responses to social influence

Substantial studies have investigated the social influence effect; however, how individuals with different social value orientations (SVOs), prosocials and proselfs, respond to different social influences remains unknown. This study examines the impact of positive and negative social information on the responses of people with different SVOs. A face-attractiveness assessment task was employed to investigate the relationships between influence probability, memory, and event-related potentials of social influence. A significant interactional effect suggested that prosocials and proselfs reacted differently to positive (group rating was more attractive) and negative (group rating was less attractive) social influences. Specifically, proselfs demonstrated significantly higher influence probability, marginally better recall performance, smaller N400, and larger late positive potential on receiving negative influence information than on receiving positive influence information, while prosocials showed no significant differences. Overall, correlations between N400/LPP, influence probability, and recall performance were significant. The above results indicate the modulating role of SVO when responding to social influence. These findings have important implications for understanding how people conform and how prosocial behavior occurs.

Negative comments and social media: How cognitive biases relate to body image concerns

Body image concern (BIC) is a prevalent issue thought to be exacerbated by social media. In addition to sociocultural factors, cognitive biases may also contribute to BIC. We explore whether cognitive biases in memory for body image-related words, presented in a mock social-media context, are associated with BIC in young adult women. A sample of 150 University students was presented with a series of body image-related comments aimed at either themselves, a close friend, or a celebrity in a recognisable social media context. Afterwards, a surprise memory task was completed that assessed the participant's memory for body image-related words (item memory), their insight (metamemory), and to whom a specific word was directed (source memory). Self-referential biases were identified for both item memory and source memory. Individuals with greater BIC displayed a greater self-referential bias for correctly and incorrectly sourcing negative words to themselves compared with both friend and celebrity. A greater self-referential effect in metacognitive sensitivity was also associated with higher BIC. We provide novel evidence for a cognitive bias in sourcing negative body image-related information to the self in individuals with higher BIC. The results should inform cognitive remediation programmes aimed at treating individuals with body and eating-related disorders.

The self-reference effect as a behavioral indicator of identity disturbances associated with borderline personality features in a non-clinical sample

BACKGROUND

Identity disturbances are a common feature of personality pathology and BPD. The Self-Reference Effect paradigm is a method used to measure the impact of self-relevant processing on encoding/memory, whereby self-relevant information is typically advantaged in cognitive processes. We postulated that difficulties with identity might impede the process by which one encodes self-relevant information. Based on this reasoning, we predicted that high levels of identity disturbance could be associated with atypical impact of the SRE.

METHODS

Undergraduate participants were randomized into one of three groups where they were exposed to 60 trait adjectives for seven seconds each. Depending on condition, participants either indicated whether a word was/wasn't capitalized (Capitalization condition), whether it was a good synonym for "openness" (Synonyms condition), or whether it described them as a person (Self-reference condition). After a brief delay, all participants were asked to recall as many of the 60 words as possible. Finally, we measured identity disturbance using the Borderline Features-Identity Problems (BOR-I) scale from the Personality Assessment Inventory.

RESULTS

We found significant but modest correlations between Recall and scores on the BOR-I subscale in the Self-Reference condition, but not the two control conditions. Contrary to expectations, the interaction between BOR-I and Condition was not a significant predictor of Recall, suggesting that identity disturbance did not significantly moderate the SRE.

CONCLUSIONS

While our primary hypothesis was not supported, there is a need for multimethod approaches to studying personality pathology. Future research should continue to examine the extent to which behavioral paradigms like the SRE might be useful indicators of identity disturbance/personality pathology, with an emphasis on the use of clinical populations.

I remember therefore I am: Episodic memory retrieval and self-reported trait empathy judgments in young and older adults and individuals with medial temporal lobe excisions

How do we know what sort of people we are? Do we reflect on specific past instances of our own behaviour, or do we just have a general idea? Previous work has emphasized the role of personal semantic memory (general autobiographical knowledge) in how we assess our own personality traits. Using a standardized trait empathy questionnaire, we show in four experiments that episodic autobiographical memory (memory for specific personal events) is associated with people's judgments of their own trait empathy. Specifically, neurologically healthy young adults rated themselves as more empathic on questionnaire items that cued episodic memories of events in which they behaved empathically. This effect, however, was diminished in people who are known to have poor episodic memory: older adults and individuals who have undergone unilateral excision of medial temporal lobe tissue (as treatment for epilepsy). Further, self-report ratings on individual questionnaire items were generally predicted by subjectively rated phenomenological qualities of the memories cued by those items, such as sensory detail, scene coherence, and overall vividness. We argue that episodic and semantic memory play different roles with respect to self-knowledge depending on life experience, the integrity of the medial temporal lobes, and whether one is assessing general abstract traits versus more concrete behaviours that embody these traits. Future research should examine different types of self-knowledge as well as personality traits other than empathy.

How We Tell Apart Fiction from Reality

The human ability to tell apart reality from fiction is intriguing. Through a range of media, such as novels and movies, we are able to readily engage in fictional worlds and experience alternative realities. Yet even when we are completely immersed and emotionally engaged within these worlds, we have little difficulty in leaving the fictional landscapes and getting back to the day-to-day of our own world. How are we able to do this? How do we acquire our understanding of our real world? How is this similar to and different from the development of our knowledge of fictional worlds? In exploring these questions, this article makes the case for a novel multilevel explanation (called BLINCS) of our implicit understanding of the reality–fiction distinction, namely that it is derived from the fact that the worlds of fiction, relative to reality, are bounded, inference-light, curated, and sparse.

Self-enhanced False Memory across the Life Span

OBJECTIVES

The role of self in veridical memory has been extensively studied, but what is the role of self in false memory development across the life span? The current study examined the impact of self-reference on associative false memory in children, younger adults, and older adults, and further investigated possible mechanisms concerning how self-reference might impact false memory in different age groups.

METHOD

Combining a self-reference manipulation with the Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm, children, younger adults and older adults encoded DRM word lists as paired with their own name, another person's name, or a red square. Later their true and false recognition memory as well as recollection and familiarity were measured.

RESULTS

A self-enhanced false memory effect was found in all age groups. That is, participants generated more false memories in the self-reference condition relative to the other-reference and neutral conditions. Furthermore, when examining its underlying memory mechanisms, we found that self-reference mainly increased false recollection in younger adults but facilitated familiarity of critical lures in older adults.

DISCUSSION

Although self-reference increases false memory in both younger and older adults, the underlying mechanisms are different in that older adults have more self-relevant false familiarity while younger adults generate more self-relevant phantom recollection. The current study also has implications for eyewitness reports, suggesting that the self-relevance of memory may be one relevant factor to consider when evaluating potential risk factors of false memory.

Self-prioritization is supported by interactions between large-scale brain networks

Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has provided solid evidence that the default-mode network (DMN) is implicated in self-referential processing. The functional connectivity of the DMN has also been observed in tasks where self-referential processing leads to self-prioritization (SPE) in perception and decision-making. However, we are less certain about whether (i) SPE solely depends on the interplay within parts of the DMN or is driven by multiple brain networks; and (ii) whether SPE is associated with a unique component of interconnected networks or can be explained by related effects such as emotion prioritization. We addressed these questions by identifying and comparing topological clusters of networks involved in self-and emotion prioritization effects generated in an associative-matching task. Using network-based statistics, we found that SPE controlled by emotion is supported by a unique component of interacting networks, including the medial prefrontal part of the DMN (MPFC), Frontoparietal network (FPN) and insular Salience network (SN). This component emerged as a result of a focal effect confined to few connections, indicating that interaction between DMN, FPC and SN is critical to cognitive operations for the SPE. This result was validated on a separate data set. In contrast, prioritization of happy emotion was associated with a component formed by interactions between the rostral prefrontal part of SN, posterior parietal part of FPN and the MPFC, while sad emotion reveals a cluster of the DMN, Dorsal Attention Network (DAN) and Visual Medial Network (VMN). We discussed theoretical and methodological aspects of these findings within the more general domain of social cognition.

Self-referential processes and resting-state connectivity in breast cancer patients before and 1 year after chemotherapy

Modifications in the processing of information relevant to oneself have been reported in breast cancer (BC) patients. Here, we characterize the longitudinal changes to self-representations in BC patients and how they are related to intrinsic functional brain connectivity. We tested 16 BC patients before (T1) and 1 year after the end of chemotherapy (T2) along with 24 healthy control participants (HC) at similar time points. Participants underwent resting-state fMRI and completed the Questionnaire of Self-Representation (QSR), which evaluates self-assertion and self-esteem. Resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) was calculated for regions implicated in self-referential processes (dorsomedial prefrontal cortex [dmPFC], posterior cingulate cortex [PCC], and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex [dACC]) and correlated with QSR scores. QSR scores were on average larger in patients compared with HC and did not vary over time. RSFC between the dACC and regions supporting body awareness (precentral/postcentral and supramarginal gyri, superior parietal lobule) decreased more between T1 and T2 in BC patients than in HC. BC patients had lower RSFC than HC between the dmPFC and the PCC, and regions supporting mental imagery (precuneus, lingual gyrus), at each time point, and a greater decrease from T1 and T2. QSR scores negatively correlated with RSFC. Patients described themselves as having greater self-awareness and positive self-image, reflecting a fighting spirit. In parallel, patients presented a decrease in cortical activity related to body awareness and mental imagery of self-representations over time that may be related to the positive self-image patients have and could reflect a temporary adaptive strategy.

Agency and Identity in the Collective Self

Contemporary research on human sociality is heavily influenced by the social identity approach, positioning social categorization as the primary mechanism governing social life. Building on the distinction between agency and identity in the individual self ("I" vs. "Me"), we emphasize the analogous importance of distinguishing collective agency from collective identity ("We" vs. "Us"). While collective identity is anchored in the unique characteristics of group members, collective agency involves the adoption of a shared subjectivity that is directed toward some object of our attention, desire, emotion, belief, or action. These distinct components of the collective self are differentiated in terms of their mental representations, neurocognitive underpinnings, conditions of emergence, mechanisms of social convergence, and functional consequences. Overall, we show that collective agency provides a useful complement to the social categorization approach, with unique implications for multiple domains of human social life, including collective action, responsibility, dignity, violence, dominance, ritual, and morality.

In search of a naturalistic neuroimaging approach: Exploration of general feasibility through the case of VR-fMRI and application in the domain of episodic memory

Virtual Reality (VR) is an increasingly widespread tool for research as it allows the creation of experiments taking place in multimodal and daily-life-like environments, while keeping a strong experimental control. Adding neuroimaging to VR leads to a better understanding of the underlying brain networks activated during a naturalistic task, whether for research purposes or rehabilitation. The present paper focuses on the specific use of concurrent VR and fMRI and its technical challenges and feasibility, with a brief examination of the general existing solutions. Following the PRISMA guidelines, the review investigates the particular case of how VR-fMRI has explored episodic memory so far, with a comparison of object- and place-based episodic memory. This review confirms the involvement of cerebral regions well-known to be implicated in episodic memory and unravels other regions devoted to bodily and narrative aspects of the self, promoting new avenues of research in the domain of naturalistic episodic memory. Future studies should develop more immersive and interactive virtual neuroimaging features to increase ecological and embodied neurocognition aspects.

Positive emotion of self-referential contexts could facilitate adult's novel word learning: An fNIRS study

Learning words through contextual inference is a key way to enlarge one's vocabulary especially for adults. However, few studies focused on the effects of different information contained in contexts on novel word learning. The present study used behavioral and fNIRS techniques to investigate the influences of positive, neutral and negative emotions inherent in self-related or other-related referential contexts. Participants were asked to perform a semantic consistency and a source judgment task after learning the relations between novel words and concepts in different contexts. The results showed that self-reference during lexical encoding could promote word learning generally. More importantly, there existed a self-positivity bias which is manifested in the significant interactions between contextual emotions and referential value. These interactions are related to the neural activities of the DLPFC and IFG. These results revealed the contextual information's integrative contributions to semantic meaning acquisition and episodic source memory related with novel word learning.

Self-representation in Kleine-Levin syndrome: a single case fMRI study

Kleine-Levin syndrome (KLS) is characterized by recurrent episodes of hypersomnia, compulsive hyperphagia, disinhibition, hypersexuality and self modifications. To investigate the Self, we used afunctional magnetic resonance imaging paradigm evaluating Self-reference processing (SRP) and Self-reference effect (SRE) in a17-year-old male adolescent at the end of an episode. We observed enhanced activations in right hemisphere and posterior areas- associated with physical Self representations- during the SRP condition, while during the SRE condition, enhanced activations in bilateral but prevailing left frontal areas- associated with the conceptual Self. These results suggest amodified Self during aKLS episode being more physically grounded.

Self-prioritization depends on assumed task-relevance of self-association

We conducted three experiments to test the effect of assumed task-relevance of self-association on the self-prioritization effect (SPE). Participants were first performing the standard matching task, and then a pseudo-word matching task, in which familiar labels from the standard task were replaced with pseudo-words. In the pseudo-words task, the association between stimuli and the self was, in fact, task-irrelevant. Learning instructions were varied to make participants believe that the self-association was task-relevant (Experiments 1 and 3) or task-irrelevant (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, we told participants that geometrical shapes represent specific identities (self, friend, none) and pseudo-words' meanings reflect each of these identities to make participants believe that semantic associations of pseudo-words were task-relevant. In this experiment, a SPE was present in the pseudo-words task. Experiment 2 was identical to Experiment 1, but participants were told to form association pairs between pseudo-words and shapes, and not pseudo-words and identities. Thus, because the matching task presented only shapes and pseudo-words, participants were led to correctly believe that associations were task-irrelevant. Under these conditions, we did not observe a SPE in the pseudo-words task. Finally, in Experiment 3, participants were told that pseudo-words are "paired with" identities, making their relations with identities weaker than in Experiment 1, but still task-relevant. The SPE in the pseudo-word task reappeared. Together, the results suggest that a SPE can be observed in the absence of any stimuli with established self-associations, but only if self-associations are represented as task-relevant.

Yes! I love my mother as much as myself: Self- and mother-association effects in an Indian sample

Information associated with the self is preferentially processed compared to information associated with others. However, cultural differences appear to exist in the way information is processed about those close to us like our mothers. In Eastern compared with Western cultures, information about the mother seems to be processed as well as our self. However, it is not clear whether this lack of difference is due to familiarity or would extend to processing arbitrary perceptual information associated with different categorical labels. The current study employs a perceptual association paradigm in which category labels like self, mother, and none are associated with arbitrary shapes to study self versus mother processing in an Indian sample. We hypothesised that there would be no difference between self and mother processing given the familial and collectivistic tendencies in India. Participants in two experiments performed a matching task between a shape and a pre-assigned category label, with self, mother, and none as categories in Experiment 1A and self, friend, and none as categories in Experiment 1B. As expected, analysis of response times (RT), accuracies, and signal detection theoretic measures showed that information about mother is processed as well as self in Experiment 1A, but this effect is not present with friend in Experiment 1B. Moreover, participants' processing for the self-associated information gets attenuated depending upon the other close person category used in the task (friend vs. mother) indicating that self-information processing is dynamically dependent on the categorical contexts in which such processing takes place. Our findings have implications for understanding the processing of self-associated information across cultures and contexts.

Post-retrieval Distortions of Self-Referential Negative Memory: Valence Consistency Enhances Gist-Directed False, While Non-negative Interference Generates More Intrusive Updates

According to the theory of reconsolidation, the contents of an original memory can be updated after reactivation with subsequent new learnings. However, there seems to be a lack of an appropriate behavioral paradigm to study the reconsolidation of explicit self-related memory, which is of great significance to further explore its cognitive neural mechanism in the future. In two separate experiments, we adapted a trial-by-trial interfering paradigm with a self-episodic simulation process and investigated (1) whether it is possible to reconsolidate negative memories under the new behavioral paradigm and (2) how the emotional valence of post-retrieval interference material affects the reconsolidation of negative memories. The results showed that the negative memories under trial-by-trial self-simulation can be degraded and updated via post-retrieval interference processes. Individuals whose original memories were reactivated by initial background cues and who were then presented with new interference situations were less able to recall original scenes and showed more memory intrusions on these scenes than those who had experienced new learning without reactivation or only reactivation without interference. Furthermore, the extent and manner of memory change/updating were greatly influenced by the characteristics of interference information. For memories with negative valences, new learning materials with the same valence produced superior interference effects in the form of lower correct recalls and more integrated false; whereas the neutral interference materials can cause more memory intrusion. Post-retrieval memory distortions of negative self-memory may underlie different functional mechanisms.

The Human Self Has Two Serial Aspects and Is Dynamic: A Concept Based on Neurophysiological Evidence Supporting a Multiple Aspects Self Theory (MAST)

The self is an increasingly central topic in current neuroscience. Understanding the neural processes that are involved in self-referential processing and functioning may also be crucial to understanding consciousness. The current short communication goes beyond the typical concept that the self is singular, as has been assumed from neuroanatomical descriptions of the self by fMRI and PET studies. Long ago, theoretically, the idea of multiple aspects of the human self-arose, highlighting a dynamic organizational structure, but an increasing number of electrophysiological brain imaging studies, searching for the temporal dynamics of self-referential brain processes, now has empirical evidence supporting their existence. This short communication focuses on the theoretical idea of a dynamic self and provides first preliminary empirical evidence, including results from own studies of the authors, in support of, and highlights the serial dynamics of the human self, suggesting a primitive Me1 and an elaborate Me2 (a non-personal and a personal self). By focusing on the temporal dimension of the self, we propose that multiple aspects of the self can be distinguished based on their temporal sequence. A multiple aspects Self Theory (MAST) is proposed. This model is meant as a theoretical framework for future studies providing further support.

Self-referential encoding of source information in recollection memory

Information that is encoded in relation to the self has been shown to be better remembered, yet reports have disagreed on whether the memory benefit from self-referential encoding extends to source memory (the context in which information was learned). In this study, we investigated the self-referential effect on source memory in recollection and familiarity-based memory. Using a Remember/Know paradigm, we compared source memory accuracy under self-referential encoding and semantic encoding. Two types of source information were included, a “peripheral” source which was not inherent to the encoding activity, and a source information about the encoding context. We observed the facilitation in item memory from self-referential encoding compared to semantic encoding in recollection but not in familiarity-based memory. The self-referential benefit to source accuracy was observed in recollection memory, with source memory for the encoding context being stronger in the self-referential condition. No significant self-referential effect was observed with regards to peripheral source information (information not required for the participant to focus on), suggesting not all source information benefit from self-referential encoding. Self-referential encoding also resulted in a higher ratio of “Remember/Know” responses rate than semantically encoded items, denoting stronger recollection. These results suggest self-referential encoding creates a richer, more detailed memory trace which can be recollected later on.

Self-Reference Effect Induced by Self-Cues Presented During Retrieval

The self-reference effect (SRE) refers to better memory for self-relevant than for other-relevant information. Generally, the SRE is found in conditions in which links between the stimuli and the self are forged in the encoding phase. To investigate the possibility that such conditions are not prerequisites for the SRE, this research developed two conditions by using two recognition tasks involving abstract geometric shapes (AGSs). One was the cue-in-encoding condition in which self- and other-cues were presented to construct links with AGSs during the encoding phase, and the other was the cue-in-retrieval condition in which self- and other-cues were presented to construct links with AGSs during the retrieval phase. The SRE was found in both conditions. The findings reveal that self-cues merely presented during the retrieval phase are sufficient to induce the SRE. Links between the stimuli and the self constructed during the encoding phase may not be necessary prerequisites for the SRE.

Self-referential false associations: A self-enhanced constructive effect for verbal but not pictorial stimuli

Memory is considered to be a flexible and reconstructive system. However, there is little experimental evidence demonstrating how associations are falsely constructed in memory, and even less is known about the role of the self in memory construction. We investigated whether false associations involving non-presented stimuli can be constructed in episodic memory and whether the self plays a role in such memory construction. In two experiments, we paired participants' own names (i.e., self-reference) or the name "Adele" (i.e., other-reference) with words and pictures from Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM) lists. We found that (1) participants not only falsely remembered the non-presented lure words and pictures as having been presented, but also misremembered that they were paired with their own name or "Adele," depending on the referenced person of related DRM lists; and (2) there were more critical lure-self associations constructed in the self-reference condition than critical lure-other associations in the other-reference condition for word but not for picture stimuli. These results suggest a self-enhanced constructive effect that might be driven by both relational and item-specific processing. Our results support the spreading-activation account for constructive episodic memory.

The role of self-reference and personal goals in the formation of memories of the future

Recent evidence suggests that some simulations of future events are encoded in memory and later recalled as "memories of the future," but the factors that determine the memorability of future simulations remain poorly understood. The current research aimed to test the hypothesis that imagined future events are better memorized when they are integrated in autobiographical knowledge structures. Across two experiments, we found that future events that involved the self were better recalled than future events that involved an acquaintance (Experiment 1), and that future events that were related to personal goals were better recalled than future events that were unrelated to goals (Experiment 2). Although self-reference and personal goals influenced the phenomenological characteristics of future simulations (e.g., their vividness and the clarity of event components), the enhanced recall of self-relevant and goal-relevant simulations was not simply due to these differences in the characteristics of simulations. Taken together, these findings suggest that the integration of simulated events with preexisting autobiographical knowledge is an important determinant of memories of the future.

Behavioural and ERP evidence of the self-advantage of online self-relevant information

The present study examined whether individuals experienced the same cognitive advantage for online self-relevant information (nickname) as that experienced for information encountered in real life (real name) through two experiments at both the behavioural and neural levels (event-related potential, ERP). The results indicated that individuals showed the same cognitive advantage for nicknames and real names. At the behavioural level, a nickname was detected as quickly as the real name, and both were detected faster than a famous name; at the neural level, the P300 potential elicited by one’s nickname was similar to that elicited by one’s real name, and both the P300 amplitudes and latencies were larger and more prolonged than those elicited by other name stimuli. These results not only confirmed the cognitive advantage for one’s own nickname and indicated that this self-advantage can be extended to online information, but also indicated that the virtual self could be integrated into the self and further expanded individuals’ self-concept.

Depressogenic self-schemas are associated with smaller regional grey matter volume in never-depressed preadolescents

Self-referential processing (i.e., self-schemas that guide processing of self-descriptive information) emerges early in youth, with deeper encoding of negative self-descriptors and/or shallower encoding of positive self-descriptors causally linked to depression. However, the relationship between depressogenic self-schemas and brain structure is unclear. We investigated associations between self-schemas and regional grey matter volume (GMV) in 84 never-depressed preadolescents oversampled for depression risk based on maternal depression history. Self-schemas were assessed using a Self-Referent Encoding Task (SRET) and regional GMV was indexed via voxel-based morphometry analysis of structural magnetic resonance imaging data. Youths' positive self-schemas were associated with greater regional GMV within the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), while negative self-schemas were associated with smaller regional GMV within vlPFC and PCC, areas important to emotion regulation and self-referential processing. These associations remained significant after controlling for youths' concurrent depressive symptoms. Exploratory mediation analysis suggested that adolescents' depressogenic self-schemas may mediate associations between GMV and depressive symptoms. Our findings suggest that the observed GMV variations within vlPFC and PCC may serve as neurobiological markers of depressogenic self-schemas during preadolescence.

Stranger to my face: Top-down and bottom-up effects underlying prioritization of images of one's face

Recent studies suggest that we rapidly and effortlessly associate neutral information with the self, leading to subsequent prioritization of this information in perception. However, the exact underlying processes behind these effects are not fully known. Here, we focus specifically on top-down and bottom-up processes involved in self-prioritization, and report results from three experiments involving face detection, using a sequential match-non-match task. Across the three experiments we asked participants to associate an unfamiliar face with the self (Experiment 1), to associate one's face with a stranger's name (Experiment 2), and to establish both associations simultaneously (Experiment 3). We found that while participants showed evidence of bottom-up prioritization of their real faces, they did not show such an effect for self-associated strangers' faces. However, the participants showed a robust self-related top-down effect; when presented with a self-related cue, they were later faster at classifying both subsequent correct and incorrect targets. Together, our results suggest that self-prioritization is underpinned by distinct top-down and bottom-up processes. We discuss our findings in the context of the proposal that the self acts as an "integrative glue", and suggest an interpretation of our results within the framework of predictive coding.

Neural Activity During Self-referential Processing in Children at Risk for Depression

BACKGROUND

According to cognitive theories of depression, more negative and less positive self-schemas are thought to play a causal role in the disorder. Existing evidence speaks to the neural substrates of self-referential processes in both healthy and depressed individuals, but little is known about how the brain relates to self-referential processing in the context of depression risk in children. We therefore studied the neural substrates of self-referential processing in never-depressed preadolescent children at high and low risk for depression based on maternal depression history.

METHODS

A total of 87 never-depressed 10-12-year-old children (29 with maternal depression) completed a self-referential encoding task during a functional magnetic resonance imaging session, in which they were presented a series of positive and negative trait adjectives and endorsed whether each word was self-descriptive. Small volume correction analyses were conducted within 7 regions of interest that are important for self-referential and emotion-related processes.

RESULTS

Analyses of small volume correction indicated that high-risk children showed greater activation in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and ventromedial prefrontal cortex during the positive-word self-referential encoding task condition than low-risk children. Ventrolateral prefrontal cortex activation mediated the association between maternal depression and child depressive symptoms only when children had lower positive self-schemas, indicating that more positive self-schemas may protect at-risk children from developing depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

Cortical midline and prefrontal regions are important to self-, emotion-, and regulation-related processes. Heightened activation within these regions in never-depressed high-risk children indicates that these neurobiological substrates may mediate early vulnerability to depression in the context of cognitive processes relevant to self-concepts.

Prioritised self-referential processing is modulated by emotional arousal

Stimuli related to the self are processed more efficiently in a variety of cognitive tasks. Recent studies have shown that this self-referential processing bias is modulated by emotion. However, a clear understanding of how emotional valence and arousal affect self-referential processing is still lacking. With a label-shape matching task, Experiment 1 measured a self-prioritisation effect in four different mood states. The results revealed stronger self-prioritisation effects in moods with higher arousal levels and a reliable correlation between the self-prioritisation effect and the arousal level reported by the participants; however, the effect of emotional valence was not statistically reliable. Experiment 2 further showed that alerting cues, known to raise arousal level, effectively increased the self-prioritisation effect in the same label-shape matching task. Experiment 3 clarified that alerting cues do not affect reward processing in a similar label-shape matching task, suggesting that arousal may selectively modulate self-referential processing. These observations provide clear evidence that emotional arousal modulates self-referential processing.

The Benefits of Combining Value for the Self and Others in Utility-Value Interventions

Utility-value interventions, in which students complete writing assignments about the personal usefulness of course material, show great promise for promoting interest and performance in introductory college science courses, as well as persistence in STEM fields. As researchers move toward scaling up this intervention, it's important to understand which features are key to its effectiveness. For example, prior studies have used different types of utility-value assignments (i.e., self-focused essays and other-focused letters) and different assignment structures (i.e., over time, researchers provided a variety of tasks or choices between tasks), without comparing them. It is not known whether these assignment features are incidental details or key aspects of the intervention that impact its effectiveness. In the current study, we systematically compared different utility-value assignments, as well as ways of combining them, in a randomized controlled trial in an introductory college biology course (N = 590). Specifically, we compared different versions of the intervention in terms of their relative effectiveness for promoting course performance and the motivational mechanisms through which they operated. The intervention was most effective when students had opportunities to write about utility for both the self and others. Grades were higher in conditions in which students were either assigned a variety of self-focused and other-focused assignments or given the choice between the two. Among students with low performance expectations, grades were higher when students were assigned a specific combination: a self-focused assignment followed by other-focused assignments. Results suggest that different versions of the intervention may work through different mechanisms.

Electrophysiological evidence of encoding in self-referential effect

Although the self-referential effect was widely supported by several previous studies, there was few event-related potential (ERP) evidence for the encoding mechanism of the self-referential effect. The present study employed ERPs to investigate whether the electrophysiological indices of the encoding processing could predict the retrieval processing in the self-referential paradigm. Behavioral results demonstrated better performance in the self-reference condition than other-reference condition. The N400 and LPP for the subsequent memory effect (the Dm effect) were observed in both self-referential and other-referential trials as shown in the ERP results of the encoding processing. Moreover, the self-referential information had higher amplitudes for subsequently remembered trials. The study also showed correlation between the ERP components in the encoding phase and those in retrieval. These findings suggest that the self-referential effect can be due to more effective encoding process, which in turn predicts better later recall performance.

A self-reference false memory effect in the DRM paradigm: Evidence from Eastern and Western samples

It is well established that processing information in relation to oneself (i.e., self-referencing) leads to better memory for that information than processing that same information in relation to others (i.e., other-referencing). However, it is unknown whether self-referencing also leads to more false memories than other-referencing does. In the current two experiments with European and East Asian samples, we presented participants the Deese-Roediger-McDermott lists together with their own name or other people's name (i.e., "Trump" in Experiment 1 and "Li Ming" in Experiment 2). We found consistent results across the two experiments; that is, in the self-reference condition, participants had higher true and false memory rates compared with those in the other-reference condition. Moreover, we found that self-referencing did not exhibit superior mnemonic advantage in terms of net accuracy compared with other-referencing and neutral conditions. These findings are discussed in terms of theoretical frameworks such as spreading activation theories and the fuzzy-trace theory. We propose that our results reflect the adaptive nature of memory in the sense that cognitive processes that increase mnemonic efficiency may also increase susceptibility to associative false memories.

Self-prioritization of fully unfamiliar stimuli

Recently, Sui and colleagues introduced an experimental task to investigate prioritization of arbitrary stimuli associated with the self. They demonstrated that after being told to associate three identities (self, friend, stranger) with three arbitrary stimuli (geometrical shapes), participants were faster in a perceptual matching task to recognise matching pairs of self-associated shape with self-label, than respective friend or stranger-related pairings. They interpreted this as evidence that a brief self-association is sufficient to facilitate processing of previously neutral stimuli. However, in the matching trials of the self-prioritization task, participants are processing not only self-associated arbitrary stimuli but also familiar verbal labels with an established meaning. Therefore, the self-advantage may be caused by familiarity of the labels, rather than self-association of the shapes. To test whether self-prioritization can be elicited in a task employing exclusively neutral stimuli, we asked participants to associate avatar faces with three identities (self, name of best friend, and stranger) and replaced labels with unfamiliar abstract symbols that were associated to the words (you, friend, stranger) before the actual experiment started. The results presented the usual pattern of self-prioritization showing that this effect does not critically depend on the presence of familiar labels and that it can be elicited in the absence of any familiar stimuli.