Relationship between frequency of involuntary autobiographical memories and cognitive failure

Abstract

Involuntary autobiographical memories are memories of personal experiences that pop into mind without a conscious attempt at their retrieval. This study investigated individual differences in the number of involuntary autobiographical memories, and explored the relationship between the frequency of occurrence in involuntary autobiographical memory and cognitive failures in everyday memory, as indexed by metamemory questionnaires. A total of 24 undergraduate students reported involuntary autobiographical memories in controlled field interviews, and completed the Everyday Memory Questionnaire and the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire. The results showed that, despite controlled conditions, considerable individual differences were observed in the number of involuntary autobiographical memories reported while walking along a prescribed route on the campus, and that reported memories were predominantly serving self function. In addition, the number of involuntary autobiographical memories was positively related to cognitive failures in everyday memory: participants who acknowledged more problems in everyday memory had a higher frequency of involuntary memories. The implications of these results are discussed in terms of the complementary function of involuntary autobiographical memory in everyday life.

A systematic review of cognitive failures in daily life: Healthy populations

“…Both of these constructs were viewed as aspects of personality (Wright & Osborne, 2005) that reflect an underlying vulnerability to lapses in cognitive control (Merckelbach et al, 1999) and subsequent difficulties integrating information and processes as usual (Bruce et al, 2007;Wright & Osborne, 2005). A related finding was that individuals who experience more involuntary autobiographical memories tend to have higher CFQ scores (Kamiya, 2014). Whilst the constructs are distinct, these types of involuntary memories may be linked to the more disruptive intrusive memories experienced in post-traumatic stress disorder.…”

“…There were no objective differences, and no relationship between CFQ and working memory scores. Kamiya (Kamiya, 2014) 1 24 healthy undergraduate students.…”

Role of triggers and dysphoria in mind-wandering about past, present and future: A laboratory study

“…This suggests that with shorter periods of recording people become more attentive to the contents of their mind than when they are given longer periods of time for recording (see also Kamiya, 2014).…”

Frequency and functions of involuntary and voluntary autobiographical memories across the day.

“…Contrary to the retrospective assessment in Rasmussen and Berntsen (2011), there were no differences between involuntary and voluntary memories with regard to the on-line assessment of state of concentration at time of retrieval. Kamiya (2014) found that participants experienced approximately 12 involuntary memories per hour and reported that most of these memories served self-functions, whereas the directive (i.e., problem solving) and social functions were reported less frequently. However, this study used a different method (i.e., "the field interview task", as introduced by Kamiya, 2014), where participants walked around the university campus for approximately an hour with the experimenter walking closely behind them, and were instructed to report to the experimenter whenever they experienced an involuntary memory.…”