Autobiographical memory
memory for specific experiences from our life, which can include both episodic (personal) and semantic (factual) components
-Involves emtal time travel: distortion due to time
- Multidimensional in Nature: spatial, emotional, and sensory components
Study of Own-Photos and lab-photos
Participants went around the campus and took pictures of buildings. The lab also took photos of buildings. Participants either viewed their own pictures or pictures taken from the lab.
Boths pictures activated which structures
- Medial temporal cortex: episodic
- Parietal cortex: processing of scenes
What did the own-photos activate more of?
- Prefrontal cortex: info about the self
- Hippocampus: recollection
-Helps demonstrate the richness of autobiographical memories
What are well remembered events in life?
-Significant events in life (marriage, baby)
-Highly emotional events (death of a loved one)
-Transitional points (highschool to univerisity)
Reminiscence Bump
Memory is high for recent events and for events that occurred in adolencent and early adulthood (10-30)
- These years have the most significant life changes
3 reasons for Reminiscence Bump
- Self-image
- Cognitive
- Cultural life script
Self image hypothesis
memory is enhanced for events that occur when a person’s identity is being formed
-people assume identities during 10-30
Cognitive hypothesis
Encoding is better during periods of rapid change, followed by stability
- Shifted for people who immigrated later in life
Cultural life script hypothesis
Culturally shared expectations structure recall (school, grad)
- Personal events are easier to recall when they fit this life script becuase they serve as cues
Youth bias
Asking people what age they would expect someone to have their most significant life event
- Mainly answered around 10-30
Emotional Memories
memories are easier to remember than neutral ones
Amygdala
Important for directing memory
Study of neutral and emotional pictures and cold water (stress)
showed participants emotional and neutral pictures, with or without stress manipulation (arm in cold water) during encoding
- Showed better recall for emotionally arousing pictures in the stress group (no difference for control)
Weapons Focus
Tendency to narrow attentional focus and attend to threatening details (weapon in crime)
Flashbulb Memories
memories associated with the circumstances surrounding shocking, important events. Highly emotional
-Where were you during 9/11
Flashbulb memories overtime
Normal memories, over time, can be inaccurate or lacking in detail, even though participants report that they are very confident
-Flashbulb memories details fade over time but the belif of accuracy or impressions of vividness remain stronger than everyday memories
Narravtive Rehersal hypothesis
Repeated viewing/ hearing of an event introduces errors into one’s own memory. The frequency makes it highly familiar, which might inflate confidence associated with the memory
