Problem 2
Riegler & Riegler / Eysenck / Sternberg
Body posture facilitates retrieval of autobiographical memories by Dijkstra
Article: A New Solution to the Recovered Memory Debate by McNally
Autobiographical memory: memory for the experiences that comprise a person’s life story
Memories vs facts:
o They’re both high in self-reference, both related to our identity, both lasts for year
o Memories cause a reliving experience – we can see, hear that day -, this experience
doesn’t happen with facts
o Memories involve interpretations (their truth can be variable), facts don’t
o Autobiographical memories -> considered episodic memories (personal events tied to a
time and place)
o Autobiographical facts -> considered semantic memories (simple, context-free
knowledge)
Methods of investigation
o There is no real way to control how things are remembered or judge the accuracy of
memories
Targeted event recall:
o Recall of specific events or time-periods
o Accuracy is limited by the completeness and accuracy of a corroborating source
o Experiment:
Subjective temporal distance of memories depends on how much the
participant has changed since the target event
Forward recall – creates a narrative story, focus on change, feels further away
from the event
Backward recall – focus on individual events and not personal change, little
change means little time, feels closer to the event
Diaries:
o Broader range of memory sample
o Firmer conclusions about accuracy because data is recorded
Cue words:
o Galton-Crovitz technique: presented with cue-words, asked to retrieve a memory, write
a description and date
, Childhood amnesia:
- Lack of memories before the age of 2 or 3
- Autobiographical memory emerges as the amnesia is lifted
Reminiscence Bump:
- Large number of memories coming from the years between 10 and 30 (especially 15-25)
Autobiographical memory retrieval
- Encoding specificity: a context-dependency effect
o memory will be successful to the degree that the cues present at retrieval match
the way the event was encoded
o language: fundamental feature of the encoded event
language the memory is encoded vs language of key word or language of
interviewer
language of interviewer affects the state of mind and causes more recalls
match in languages causes more recalls
Effective cues for autobiographical memories
- What, when, where, who what? is more superior
- Location and time are poor cues for retrieval but actions (what) are good cues
- Odors: promote more vivid and detailed memories than verbal cues
Models of autobiographical memory retrieval
- All models reflect 2 properties:
o The distinct episodic flavor- reliving and reexperiencing the sensory and temporal
characteristics
o These memories are reconstructions rather than replicas
The Self Memory System View by Conway
- Uses autobiographical memory as a basis for all episodic memory
- The heart of episodic memory lies in working self and everything about who you are
- Autobiographical memories are constructed rather than reproduced
- Reconstruction is guided by the working self
- Memories could be reconstructed differently as parts of working self changes
- Memories are constructed from a hierarchically organized memory database
o First layer: lifetime periods – slices of our lifetime about specific goals, plans,
themes
Also organized into different thematic categories e.g. relationships and
academic
o Second layer: general events – representations of particular events that make up
our life time periods
o Third layer: complex episodic memories (event specific knowledge) – sensual,
perceptual details and other simpler components that construct specific memories
o Retrieval is a slow and effortful reconstruction rather than rapid retrieval of facts
- Memories can be accessed through 2 retrieval types:
o Generative retrieval: deliberately constructing autobiographical memories by
combining resources of the working self with information from the memory
database
Riegler & Riegler / Eysenck / Sternberg
Body posture facilitates retrieval of autobiographical memories by Dijkstra
Article: A New Solution to the Recovered Memory Debate by McNally
Autobiographical memory: memory for the experiences that comprise a person’s life story
Memories vs facts:
o They’re both high in self-reference, both related to our identity, both lasts for year
o Memories cause a reliving experience – we can see, hear that day -, this experience
doesn’t happen with facts
o Memories involve interpretations (their truth can be variable), facts don’t
o Autobiographical memories -> considered episodic memories (personal events tied to a
time and place)
o Autobiographical facts -> considered semantic memories (simple, context-free
knowledge)
Methods of investigation
o There is no real way to control how things are remembered or judge the accuracy of
memories
Targeted event recall:
o Recall of specific events or time-periods
o Accuracy is limited by the completeness and accuracy of a corroborating source
o Experiment:
Subjective temporal distance of memories depends on how much the
participant has changed since the target event
Forward recall – creates a narrative story, focus on change, feels further away
from the event
Backward recall – focus on individual events and not personal change, little
change means little time, feels closer to the event
Diaries:
o Broader range of memory sample
o Firmer conclusions about accuracy because data is recorded
Cue words:
o Galton-Crovitz technique: presented with cue-words, asked to retrieve a memory, write
a description and date
, Childhood amnesia:
- Lack of memories before the age of 2 or 3
- Autobiographical memory emerges as the amnesia is lifted
Reminiscence Bump:
- Large number of memories coming from the years between 10 and 30 (especially 15-25)
Autobiographical memory retrieval
- Encoding specificity: a context-dependency effect
o memory will be successful to the degree that the cues present at retrieval match
the way the event was encoded
o language: fundamental feature of the encoded event
language the memory is encoded vs language of key word or language of
interviewer
language of interviewer affects the state of mind and causes more recalls
match in languages causes more recalls
Effective cues for autobiographical memories
- What, when, where, who what? is more superior
- Location and time are poor cues for retrieval but actions (what) are good cues
- Odors: promote more vivid and detailed memories than verbal cues
Models of autobiographical memory retrieval
- All models reflect 2 properties:
o The distinct episodic flavor- reliving and reexperiencing the sensory and temporal
characteristics
o These memories are reconstructions rather than replicas
The Self Memory System View by Conway
- Uses autobiographical memory as a basis for all episodic memory
- The heart of episodic memory lies in working self and everything about who you are
- Autobiographical memories are constructed rather than reproduced
- Reconstruction is guided by the working self
- Memories could be reconstructed differently as parts of working self changes
- Memories are constructed from a hierarchically organized memory database
o First layer: lifetime periods – slices of our lifetime about specific goals, plans,
themes
Also organized into different thematic categories e.g. relationships and
academic
o Second layer: general events – representations of particular events that make up
our life time periods
o Third layer: complex episodic memories (event specific knowledge) – sensual,
perceptual details and other simpler components that construct specific memories
o Retrieval is a slow and effortful reconstruction rather than rapid retrieval of facts
- Memories can be accessed through 2 retrieval types:
o Generative retrieval: deliberately constructing autobiographical memories by
combining resources of the working self with information from the memory
database
