Creativity and Memory

Madore, Kevin P.; Addis, Donna Rose; Schacter, Daniel L.

doi:10.1177/0956797615591863

Cited by 209 publications

(126 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…The episodic specificity induction did not alter the overall relationship between internal and external details, meaning that if the generation of external details is entirely a secondary by-product of amount of internal details (or vice versa), a reciprocal effect between the two should be observed. However, it has previously been shown that in most experiments the episodic specificity induction increases internal details, but does not decrease external details (Madore et al, 2014; Madore, Jing, et al, 2016; Madore & Schacter, 2014, 2016; Madore, Szpunar, Addis, & Schacter, 2016; but see Jing, Madore, & Schacter, 2016; Madore, Addis, & Schacter, 2015). Furthermore, different types of future imaginations can alter the amount of internal details generated, with no concurrent effects on external details (de Vito, Neroni, Gamboz, Della Sala, & Brandimonte, 2015; see also Neroni, Gamboz, De Vito, & Brandimonte, 2016), and age-related decreases in internal details have been reported even when the number of external details does not differ with age (Madore & Schacter, 2014; Zavagnin et al, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Episodic and semantic content of memory and imagination: A multilevel analysis

2017

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Autobiographical memories of past events and imaginations of future scenarios comprise both episodic and semantic content. Correlating the amount of “internal” (episodic) and “external” (semantic) details generated when describing autobiographical events can illuminate the relationship between the processes supporting these constructs. Yet previous studies performing such correlations were limited by aggregating data across all events generated by an individual, potentially obscuring the underlying relationship within the events themselves. In the current paper we reanalyzed datasets from eight published studies using a multilevel approach, allowing us to explore the relationship between internal and external details within events. We also examined whether this relationship changes with healthy aging. Our reanalyses demonstrated a largely negative relationship between the internal and external details produced when describing autobiographical memories and future imaginations. This negative relationship was stronger and more consistent for older adults, and was evident both in direct and indirect measures of semantic content. Moreover, this relationship appears to be specific to episodic tasks, as no relationship was observed for a non-episodic picture description task. This negative association suggests that people do not generate semantic information indiscriminately, but do so in a compensatory manner, to embellish episodically impoverished events. Our reanalysis further lends support for dissociable processes underpinning episodic and semantic information generation when remembering and imagining autobiographical events.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Episodic and semantic content of memory and imagination: A multilevel analysis

2017

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“…As noted earlier, effects of the specificity induction have been documented on subsequent tasks that are thought to draw on episodic retrieval, including memory, future imagining, means-end problem solving, and divergent thinking tasks (Madore et al, 2014, 2015; Madore & Schacter, 2014, 2015). Equally important, the specificity induction has had no detectable impact on the performance of subsequent tasks that are thought to rely on primarily semantic retrieval or non-episodic narrative processing, such as describing a picture (Madore et al, 2014), generating word definitions (Madore & Schacter, 2015), or generating object associations and semantic solution words (Madore et al, 2015). Schacter and Madore (in press) have suggested that the CI-based induction biases a subsequent episodic retrieval orientation toward a focus on specific event details, such that individuals construct more detailed mental scenes or events after a specificity induction than a control induction.…”

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confidence: 81%

“…A total of 10 participants were excluded due to experimenter error (2 participants), incompletion of the experiment (5 participants), or noncompliance (3 participants), leaving 25 participants in the final sample. Before the study was run we performed a power analysis to determine that a sample size of at least 24 useable participants was necessary to observe a medium-sized effect of the induction (power > .80, α = .05, two-tailed, for a within-subjects design, d = 0.60), which has also been the case in prior induction studies (e.g., Madore et al, 2014, 2015). Given scheduling constraints with multiple sessions, data collection was stopped once it was determined that approximately enough useable participants had been run to reach this number.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Level of detail was increased by using an episodic specificity induction , whereby participants were guided to recall specific episodic details from a short film compared with a control condition that did not require detailed episodic retrieval. The effect of the episodic specificity induction is also evident on other tasks administered subsequent to the induction that are thought to draw on episodic retrieval, including memory, imagination, and divergent thinking tasks (Madore, Gaesser, & Schacter, 2014; Madore, Addis, & Schacter, 2015; for review and discussion, see Schacter & Madore, in press). Although previous work has demonstrated that increased specificity of autobiographical memory can be linked to improvements in depressive symptoms (Neshat-Doost et al, 2012; Raes, Williams, & Hermans, 2009) and PTSD symptoms (Moradi et al, 2014) with respect to negative and distressing past events, there is little evidence that increased specificity can be beneficial for processing worrisome future events that have not yet been experienced, and the evidence that does exist is correlational (e.g., Brown et al, 2002).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Worrying about the future: An episodic specificity induction impacts problem solving, reappraisal, and well-being.

Jing¹,

Madore²,

Schacter³

2016

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

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Previous research has demonstrated that an episodic specificity induction – brief training in recollecting details of a recent experience – enhances performance on various subsequent tasks thought to draw upon episodic memory processes. Existing work has also shown that mental simulation can be beneficial for emotion regulation and coping with stressors. Here we focus on understanding how episodic detail can affect problem solving, reappraisal, and psychological well-being regarding worrisome future events. In Experiment 1, an episodic specificity induction significantly improved participants’ performance on a subsequent means-end problem solving task (i.e., more relevant steps) and an episodic reappraisal task (i.e., more episodic details) involving personally worrisome future events compared with a control induction not focused on episodic specificity. Imagining constructive behaviors with increased episodic detail via the specificity induction was also related to significantly larger decreases in anxiety, perceived likelihood of a bad outcome, and perceived difficulty to cope with a bad outcome, as well as larger increases in perceived likelihood of a good outcome and indicated use of active coping behaviors compared with the control. In Experiment 2, we extended these findings using a more stringent control induction, and found preliminary evidence that the specificity induction was related to an increase in positive affect and decrease in negative affect compared with the control. Our findings support the idea that episodic memory processes are involved in means-end problem solving and episodic reappraisal, and that increasing the episodic specificity of imagining constructive behaviors regarding worrisome events may be related to improved psychological well-being.

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“…Apart from increasing the level of detail when recalling past and imagining future experiences (Madore et al, 2014), other known effects of the specificity induction on subsequent tasks include boosting the number of steps generated during problem solving (Jing et al, 2016; Madore & Schacter, 2014), increasing the number of creative solutions generated during divergent thinking tasks (Madore, Addis, & Schacter, 2015; Madore, Jing, & Schacter, 2016), and boosting the level of concreteness and detail during episodic reappraisal (Jing et al, 2016). Critically, whereas the specificity induction impacts performance on subsequent tasks that are thought to be dependent on episodic memory, it has no detectable impact on the performance of tasks that are thought to rely on primarily semantic retrieval or non-episodic narrative processing, such as describing a picture (Madore et al, 2014), generating word definitions (Madore & Schacter, 2015), or generating object associations and semantic solution words (Madore et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preparing for what might happen: An episodic specificity induction impacts the generation of alternative future events

2017

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A critical adaptive feature of future thinking involves the ability to generate alternative versions of possible future events. However, little is known about the nature of the processes that support this ability. Here we examined whether an episodic specificity induction – brief training in recollecting details of a recent experience that selectively impacts tasks that draw on episodic retrieval – 1) boosts alternative event generation and 2) changes one’s initial perceptions of negative future events. In Experiment 1, an episodic specificity induction significantly increased the number of alternative positive outcomes that participants generated to a series of standardized negative events, compared with a control induction not focused on episodic specificity. We also observed larger decreases in the perceived plausibility and negativity of the original events in the specificity condition, where participants generated more alternative outcomes, relative to the control condition. In Experiment 2, we replicated and extended these findings using a series of personalized negative events. Our findings support the idea that episodic memory processes are involved in generating alternative outcomes to anticipated future events, and that boosting the number of alternative outcomes is related to subsequent changes in the perceived plausibility and valence of the original events, which may have implications for psychological well-being.

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Creativity and Memory

Cited by 209 publications

References 31 publications

Episodic and semantic content of memory and imagination: A multilevel analysis

Episodic and semantic content of memory and imagination: A multilevel analysis

Worrying about the future: An episodic specificity induction impacts problem solving, reappraisal, and well-being.

Preparing for what might happen: An episodic specificity induction impacts the generation of alternative future events

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