Cue generation and memory construction in direct and generative autobiographical memory retrieval [Harris, O'Connor, & Sutton] (original) (raw)
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Cue generation and memory construction in direct and generative autobiographical memory retrieval
Consciousness and Cognition, 2015
Theories of autobiographical memory emphasise effortful, generative search processes in memory retrieval. However recent research suggests that memories are often retrieved directly, without effortful search. We investigated whether direct and generative retrieval differed in the characteristics of memories recalled, or only in terms of retrieval latency. Participants recalled autobiographical memories in response to cue words. For each memory, they reported whether it was retrieved directly or generatively, rated its visuo-spatial perspective, and judged its accompanying recollective experience. Our results indicated that direct retrieval was commonly reported and was faster than generative retrieval, replicating recent findings. The characteristics of directly retrieved memories differed from generatively retrieved memories: directly retrieved memories had higher field perspective ratings and lower observer perspective ratings. However, retrieval mode did not influence recollective experience. We discuss our findings in terms of cue generation and content construction, and the implication for reconstructive models of autobiographical memory.
On the Prevalence of Directly Remembered Autobiographical Memories
In this study, we used process measures to understand how people recall autobiographical memories in response to different word cues. In Experiment 1, participants provided verbal protocols when cued by object and emotion words. Participants also reported whether memories had come directly to mind. The self-reports and independent ratings of the verbal protocols indicated that directly recalled memories are much faster and more frequent than generated memories and are more prevalent when cued by objects than emotions. Experiment 2 replicated these results without protocols to eliminate any demand characteristics or output interference associated with the protocol method. In Experiment 3, we obtained converging results using a different method for assessing retrieval strategies by asking participants to assess the amount of information required to retrieve memories. The greater proportion of fast direct retrievals when memories are cued by objects accounts for reaction time differences between object and emotion cues, and not the commonly accepted explanation based on ease of retrieval. We argue for a dual-strategies approach that disputes generation as the canonical form of autobiographical memory retrieval and discuss the implication of these findings for the representation of personal events in autobiographical memory.
Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition
In autobiographical memory cuing studies, self-generated retrieval cues lead to fast, effortless retrieval of rich memories. In everyday life, retrieval cues may often be provided by other people. We compared self-generated cues to other-generated cues, in terms of their impact on retrieval processes and memory qualities. In Experiment 1, participants were romantic couples. In Experiment 2, participants were pairs of strangers. Participants generated personalised cues (people, places) either for themselves or their experimental partner. Participants then retrieved autobiographical memories to personalised and generic cues. For couples, both self-and other-generated cues yielded higher rates of direct retrieval and richer memories than generic cues. For strangers, other-generated cues were less effective than selfgenerated cues and yielded less rich memories. Findings support the possibility that close family and friends have a particular ability to cue our memories, by providing us with autobiographically-relevant cue content that yields fast, effortless, and rich remembering experiences.
Involuntary Retrieval from Autobiographical Memory and The Nature of Cues
2013
cues, which are in general less effective, only trigger memories that are accessible because of the importance of the event they refer to. Put another way, the importance of the event could have the potential effect of increasing the accessibility of memories that otherwise, given the lower effectiveness of abstract cues, would have remained unaccessible. Our results are also important in revealing that when the same basic components of the procedure are used in both involuntary and voluntary memory tasks, no difference is observed in response time, nor in N-backs defined here as the difference in cues between the cue that triggered the response and the cue where the interruption occurs. This suggests that other results showing differences in response times should be considered with caution, as they might be the outcome of the specific differences in the procedures used. Finally, our data reveal that concrete cues, in spite of being in general more effective, still allow for a large...
Routes to the past: neural substrates of direct and generative autobiographical memory retrieval
2011
Models of autobiographical memory propose two routes to retrieval depending on cue specificity. When available cues are specific and personally-relevant, a memory can be directly accessed. However, when available cues are generic, one must engage a generative retrieval process to produce more specific cues to successfully access a relevant memory. The current study sought to characterize the neural bases of these retrieval processes.
The relation between verbal and visuospatial memory and autobiographical memory
Consciousness and Cognition, 2015
The basic-systems approach (Rubin, 2005, 2006) states that autobiographical memory is supported by other cognitive systems and argues that autobiographical memories are constructed from interactions between cognitive systems, such as language, vision and emotion. Although deficiencies in one or more of the basic systems influence the properties of autobiographical memories, little is known about how these cognitive abilities and autobiographical memory are related. To assert whether participants with stronger cognitive abilities also perform better on autobiographical memory tests, participants who completed verbal and visuospatial memory tests also recorded one personal event, which they recalled after a certain interval. Participants who performed well on the verbal memory tests also had better retention for the personal event, providing support for the basic-systems approach to autobiographical memory and preliminary support for the view that people have more memories from adolescence and early adulthood because the memory system works optimally in these lifetime periods.
Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 2022
Which episodes from our lives will be remembered and which will be forgotten, and why? This question has still not been answered satisfactorily by research into autobiographical memory. Previous work has shown that retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) might be a factor responsible for forgetting parts of the autobiographical memory content. However, none of the previous studies assessed RIF in memories for recent, controlled, personal events. We report here the results of an experiment in which autobiographical memories of real-life events were induced in a controlled, but fully naturalistic, manner under the disguise of team-building exercises, while an adapted RIF paradigm was applied to these memories. Results clearly showed the influence of RIF on autobiographical memory retrieval. These findings demonstrate conclusively that RIF occurs in everyday life when remembering personal events.
Memory & Cognition, 2001
We examined whether retrieval from semantic memory (Experiment 1) and autobiographical memory (Experiment 2) is exclusive, or whether people can search for two things at once. In Experiment 1, participants retrieved items as quickly as possible over 4 ruin from single categories (e.g., foods, countries) and from disjunctive categories (e.g., foods or countries). In Experiment 2, participants retrieved autobiographical episodes associated with single cue words (e.g., flower, ticket) or with disjunctive cue words (e.g., flower or ticket). In both experiments, retrieval of items from the disjunctive category did not exceed predictions based on optimal sequencing of retrieval from the corresponding two single categories. That is, exclusivity was observed to occur in retrieval from among multiple nonoverlapping categories in both semantic and autobiographical memory.