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Determinants of Specificity in Autobiographical Memory

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Determinants of Specificity in Autobiographical Memory Determinants of Specificity in Autobiographical Memory Helen G. Healy corqsl A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the regulations for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of Wales: 1997 SUMMARY Depressed and suicidal patients have difficulty in recollecting specific autobiographical events. In response to cue words they tend to generate summarised or general memories instead of specific events. The objectives of this thesis are to explore the mechanisms underlying the production of specific and general autobiographical memories in a non clinical population. The roles of imagery and working memory in the generation of autobiographical memories were investigated. Four experiments examined how manipulating the imageability of the cue affected subsequent retrieval in autobiographical memory. The results show that cues high in imageability facilitated accessto specific memories and that visual imageability was the most significant piedictor of memory specificity compared to a range of other perceptual modalities. The effect of an experimental manipulation on retrieval style was examined by instructing participants to retrieve specific events or general events using high or low imageable words to cue memories. The results show that induction. of a generic retrieval style reduced the specificity of images of future events. This models clinical findings with depressed and suicidal patients and suggests that associations between memory retrieval and future imaging share common intermediate pathways. A further experiment suggested that the imageability effects mediating the construction of specific memories may be in part due to the predicability of such retrieval cues. The hypothesis that retrieval of specific autobiographical memories is more effortful compared to the retrieval of general memories was also investigated using a dual task paradigm. Although central executive function has been implicated many times in the monitoring of autobiographical retrieval, no direct assessmentof executive capacity during retrieval has been made. The results showed no significant difference in the randomness of a keypressing task when specific or general autobiographical memories were retrieved in response to either high or low imageable cue words. A direct retrieval hypothesis was proposed whereby cues directly accessedspecific events in autobiographical memory and the adoption of such a strategy enabled participants to maintain performance on the secondary task. CONTENTS Chapter 1 Theories of Memory Short term memory ...........................................1 Levels 7 of processingmodel ............................. Working 8 memory model ................................. Long term memory ...........................................9 Semantic 10 memory ............................................ Episodic 12 and semantic memory .................... Chapter 2 The development and organization of autobiographical memory Development of autobiographical memory.. 16 Organization 20 of autobiographical memory ... Network 20 models ................................................ Hierarchical 22 and structural models ................ Chapter 3 Autobiographical 33 memory and emotion .................. Implications 38 of non-specificity ........................ Non-specificity in 41 clinical groups ................... Imagery in 43 and cues retrieval ........................... Chapter 4 The effects of frequency and imageability of cue words on autobiographical memory Experiment 1: hitroduction 50 .................................... Method 54 ............................................ Results 58 ............................................ Discussion 65 ...................................... Chapter 5 Imagery modality effects on autobiographical memory Experiment 2: Introduction 70 .................................... Method 72 ............................................ Results 75 ............................................ Discussion 87 ...................................... Chapter 6 Imagery, memory and specificity of future events Experiment 3: Introduction 93 .................................. Method 95 .......................................... Results 100 .......................................... Discussiwi 103 .................................... Chapter 7 Images, predicates, and retrieval cues in autobiographical memory Experiment 4: Mtroductioti 107 ............................... Method 113 ....................................... Results 116 ....................................... Discussion 121 ................................. Chapter 8 Working memory and autobiographical memory Working 133 memory and central executive ................ Activation in long 138 term memory ............................. Executive function 142 and selective attention ............. Random index 143 number generation - an .................. Chapter 9 Random number generation Local heuristic 153 representativeness -a ...................... The feedback learning 155 role of and ............................ Measurements 158 of randomness .................................. Experiment 5: Infrodtictioji 160 ............................... Method 161 ....................................... Results 163 ....................................... Discussion 166 ................................. Chapter 10 Random generation and central executive function Experiment 6 (a) Ititroduction 169 ............................. Method 171 ..................................... Results 174 ..................................... Discussion 179 ............................... Experiment 6 (b) Ititroductioti 182 ............................ Method 182 .................................... Results 184 .................................... Discussion 189 .............................. Chapter 11 The specificity of autobiographical memory and central executive function Experiment 7 (a) hitroduction 193 ........................... Method 198 ................................... Results 200 ................................... Discussion 211 ............................. Experiment 7 (b) Introduction 215 .......................... Method 215 .................................. Results 218. .................................. Discussion 230 ............................ Chapter 12 General Discussion 239 .............................................. Limitations 245 ............................................................. Imagery in 248 autobiographical memory ............... Conclusions 261 ............................................................ References 264 Appendix A ANOVA summary tables, multiple regressionequations Appendix B Imageability, frequency and predicability cue ratings Appendix C Test sentencesused in experiment 4 Appendix D Evans' Randomization Index - formula and calculation ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. -4 There are two people without whom I could not have completed this thesis. The first is my supervisor Professor Mark Williams, who was a constant source of guidance and encouragement throughout. His enthusiasm, commitment and patience helped me to learn a great deal and I am forever grateful to him. The second person who made it possible for me to complete this work is my husband David who was always there for me and hugely supportive at all times. Special mention must also be made of my two children, Justin and Sarah who can now claim back much of my time that is rightfully theirs. Finally my friends, too many to mention, but especially Bethan Henderson and Linda Williams for always listening with interest and support. Chapter 1. Theories of Memory Autobiographical memory comprises different qualitative memories, which are used to construct past events. One dimension of contrast is that of general memories versus specific memories. Activities or events which recur frequently are represented in autobiographical memory as general memories, whereas specific memories of recurrent activities are usually significant in some distinctive way. The aims of this thesis are to investigate the processes underlying the specificity/ generic dimension of autobiographical memory in retrieval. The empirical work falls into two main areas;firstly the functional role of imagery in autobiographical memory with particular reference to the construction of specific and general autobiographical memory is investigated. The second area of investigation focuseson the role of working memory and autobiographical memory. A dual task paradigm is used to examine capacity constraints involved in the retrieval of specific and general memories. The first 2 chapters provide some background material to the study of memory in general, while Chapter 2 reviews the development and organization of autobiographical memory. The role of emotion and autobiographical memory is then discussedin Chapter 3. Some theoretical memory models that have been proposed to account for empirical findings in the past and in more recent years are considered. As the study of autobiographical memory is a relatively recent phenomenon, with the majority of studies occurring since the early eighties, it is important to consider its role and position in relation to previous and current models of 1 memory and attention. Firstly a brief overview of the major theoretical approachesto the study of memory will be discussedfollowed by the relevant models of the separatememory subsystems. There has been considerable effort devoted to understanding how human temporary storage of information is achieved. The first conceptual model of memory
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