Previous studies have shown that many people hold personal memories for events that they no longer believe occurred. This study examines the reasons that people provide for choosing to reduce autobiographical belief in vividly recollected autobiographical memories. A body of non-believed memories provided by 374 individuals was reviewed to develop a qualitatively derived categorisation system. The final scheme consisted of 8 major categories (in descending order of mention): social feedback, event plausibility, alternative attributions, general memory beliefs, internal event features, consistency with external evidence, views of self/others, personal motivation and numerous sub-categories. Independent raters coded the reports and judged the primary reason that each person provided for withdrawing belief. The nature of each category, frequency of category endorsement, category overlap and phenomenological ratings are presented, following which links to related literature and implications are discussed. This study documents that a wide variety of recollective and non-recollective sources of information influence decision-making about the occurrence of autobiographical events.

This research examined how instructions to focus on the concrete details (experience focus) versus broader life significance (coherence focus) influence present perceptions of transitional impact and self-relevance for past and future transitional events. Participants (Study 1, N = 119; Study 2, N = 251) selected a past or future transition and wrote about it using either an experiential or coherence focus. Participants then rated the event on transitional impact, self-relevance, and other phenomenological characteristics. Individuals instructed to use a coherence focus on a past transition reported higher levels of material and psychological impact and rated the event as more self-relevant, compared to those instructed to use an experiential focus. The manipulation did not influence ratings for future events. Controlling for temporal distance and emotional valence did not alter the findings. Future transitions were regarded as more personally important than past transitions. Appraisals of the impact and self-relevance of transformative past events (but not future events) are affected by the mental focus adopted at retrieval. The findings are considered in light of essential differences between remembering and forecasting and support the notion that a coherence focus promotes adaptive self-reflection by affording people the cognitive means with which to reconcile transitional experiences.

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Objective: This study was designed to compare different versions of the letter fluency test (FAS/CFL), evaluate the effect of repeat administration and the classification accuracy of traditional and novel cutoffs as performance validity tests (PVTs). Method: Archival data were collected from a mixed clinical sample (n = 64) of patients physician-referred for neuropsychological assessment (M Age = 43.2; M Education = 14.1). Sensitivity and specificity of various letter fluency cutoffs were calculated against various psychometric definitions of invalid performance. Results: There was no difference between the FAS and CFL on total score and phonemic clusters. Learning effects were small and limited to the CFL. A T score of ≤33 on the FAS and ≤35 on CFL was specific (.89-.98), but relatively insensitive (.27-.45). Likewise, ≤4 phonemic clusters were associated with high specificity (.88-.94) but variable sensitivity (.22-.60) and were orthogonal to self-reported anxiety and depression. A raw score of ≤7 (FAS) or ≤8 (CFL) on the trial F had comparable classification accuracy (.18-.44 sensitivity at .91-.98 specificity). Failure on multiple validity cutoffs had near-ceiling specificity (.92-1.00). Declining output was similar in valid and invalid response sets. Conclusions: FAS and CFL are psychometrically equivalent versions of the letter fluency test and are relatively robust to learning effects on serial testing. Both can function as effective embedded PVTs, although they are limited by low and variable sensitivity. Process variables had mixed results as predictors of performance validity. Public Significance StatementDifferent versions of the same test are expected to produce similar outcomes and repeat administrations often result in higher performance. However, these assumptions are rarely verified empirically. This study found that two versions of the letter fluency test (FAS and CFL) produce converging results, learning effects in clinical patients are small, and both versions function well as performance validity indicators.

Purpose of program: Given the growing interest in patient-oriented research (POR) initiatives, there is a need to provide relevant training and education on how to engage with patients as partners on research teams. Sources of information: As part of its mandate to develop appropriate training materials, the patient-oriented renal research network, Canadians Seeking Solutions and Innovations to Overcome Chronic Kidney Disease (Can-SOLVE CKD), established a training and Mentorship Committee (TMC). Methods: The committee brings together a unique combination of Indigenous and non-Indigenous patient partners (including caregivers, family members, and living donors), researchers, as well as patient engagement and knowledge translation experts, combining a multitude of perspectives and expertise. Following an assessment of training needs within the network, the TMC undertook the co-development of 5 learning modules to address the identified gaps. Subsequently, the committee divided into working groups tasked with developing content using a consultive and iterative approach informed by the DoTTI framework for building web-based tools for patients. In addition, the TMC embodied the guiding principles of inclusiveness, support, mutual respect, and co-building as set out by the Patient Engagement Framework through the Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Key findings: The 5 new modules include: A Patient Engagement Toolkit, Storytelling for Impact, Promoting Kidney Research in Canada (KidneyPRO), Wabishki Bizhiko Skaanj Learning Pathway, and Knowledge Translation. The TMC’s approach to developing these modules demonstrates how a diverse group of stakeholders working together can create tools to support high-quality POR. This also provides a roadmap for other health research entities interested in developing similar tools within their unique domains. Limitations: The landscape of patient engagement in research is constantly evolving. This underscores the need for sustained resources to keep POR tools and training relevant and up-to-date. Sustaining such resources may not be feasible for all research entities. Implications: Collaborative approaches integrating patients in the development of POR tools ensure the content is relevant and meaningful to patients. Broader adoption of such approaches has great potential to address existing gaps and enhance the Canadian POR landscape.

We investigated how focusing on the details (experience focus) versus self-narrative significance (coherence focus) of valenced transitions informs appraisals and emotions at recall. Participants (N = 302) selected a negative or positive transition and rated their emotion. Two weeks later, they described their event using an experience or coherence focus, then rated emotion, event impact, self-relevance, and memory characteristics. A coherence (vs. experience) focus produced lower negative affect and greater psychological impact, particularly for negative transitions. The negative-coherence group showed the largest decrease in negation emotion over time. A coherence (vs. experience) focus resulted in less perceptual detail, reactivity, and re-experiencing. Positive (vs. negative) events were deemed more central to identity and connected to other events. Mental focus informed psychological impact and negative affect, while event valence influenced self-relevance. These findings remained when event type (interpersonal) was matched across groups. Motives for framing autobiographical memories and implications for adaptive self-reflection are discussed.

Preceding research has documented that the remembered events that become nonbelieved memories (NBMs) are frequently, but not exclusively, dated in early to midchildhood. We extend discussion of this apparent anti-reminiscence bump, which indicates that childhood memory may be a period of vulnerability such that, when vivid childhood memories are brought into question later in life, reduction of belief in the occurrence of such memories is more likely to result. We reexamined the dating of NBMs in a combined sample of five studies (N ϭ 929) and explored the dating of NBMs in relation to phenomenological characteristics associated with remembering, reasons for choosing to reduce belief in memories, and subtypes of NBMs. The distribution of age at the event in the memory was consistent with prior studies, within and across the samples: memories that became NBMs were most likely to be dated in early to middle childhood. Participants' age at the time of the event and age at development of the NBM correlated weakly with a number of memory characteristics and reasons for altering belief in memories. The "classic" NBM subtype, characterized by large differences between recollection and belief in occurrence, was dated earlier than the other subtypes. Implications of childhood as a period of vulnerability for uncertainty and revision of belief in the occurrence of memories and some potential clinical implications of our findings are discussed.