The distribution of autobiographical memories across the lifespan

Rubin, David C.; Schulkind, Matthew D.

doi:10.3758/bf03211330

Cited by 237 publications

(239 citation statements)

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“…Logarithmic curves were previously shown to fit the relation between TD and memory retention, as logarithmic curves characterize the distribution of the correct recall of events from different points in time (Rubin & Schulkind, 1997;Spreng & Levine, 2006). Our data extend these data by showing that cognitive performance (RT with respect to events) was decreasing logarithmically as TDs to the events increased.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

“…We note that this was found for relative-past and relative-future events and thus independent of what time period our participants were asked to imagine as the experimental present time. These behavioral data show that -independently of the imagined self-location in time (past, present, or future) -RTs to life events logarithmically depend on the TD between the imagined self-location in time and the presented life event, demonstrating that TD may play a larger role in self-projection in mental time and episodic thinking (Rubin & Schulkind, 1997;Schroots & Assink, 2005;Schroots et al, 2004;Spreng & Levine, 2006) as previously thought (Addis, Wong, & Schacter, 2007;Arzy et al, 2008;Buckner & Carroll, 2007;Okuda et al, 2003;Szpunar et al, 2007).…”

Section: Methods and Resultsmentioning

confidence: 58%

“…It was argued that episodic thinking is crucial not only for the ability to ''project" one's self mentally in time in order to re-experience the past, but also to pre-experience the future (Atance & O'Neill, 2001;Schacter, Addis, & Buckner, 2007;Suddendorf & Corballis, 2007;Szpunar, Watson, & McDermott, 2007;Tulving, 2002). In addition, recent studies showed that the temporal-distance (TD) between one's self-location in time to an event (''how long ago" an event occurred; TD-effect) is also associated with the ability to ''project" oneself mentally to a moment in past or future, rather than the mere storage of that actual event as in episodic memory (''when and what") (Rubin & Schulkind, 1997;Spreng & Levine, 2006). However, it is not known what role such TD effects play in the cognitive processing of the mental time.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The mental time line: An analogue of the mental number line in the mapping of life events

Arzy

Adi-Japha

Blanke

2009

Consciousness and Cognition

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a b s t r a c tA crucial aspect of the human mind is the ability to project the self along the time line to past and future. It has been argued that such self-projection is essential to re-experience past experiences and predict future events. In-depth analysis of a novel paradigm investigating mental time shows that the speed of this ''self-projection" in time depends logarithmically on the temporal-distance between an imagined ''location" on the time line that participants were asked to imagine and the location of another imagined event from the time line. This logarithmic pattern suggests that events in human cognition are spatially mapped along an imagery mental time line. We argue that the present time-line data are comparable to the spatial mapping of numbers along the mental number line and that such spatial maps are a fundamental basis for cognition.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Section: Methods and Resultsmentioning

confidence: 58%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The mental time line: An analogue of the mental number line in the mapping of life events

Arzy

Adi-Japha

Blanke

2009

Consciousness and Cognition

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“…The initial description of the bump was based on data from several laboratories MEMORY, 2003, 11 (1) Thanks are due to Lone Vasegaard and Karen Randhùj-Andersen for their assistance in selecting subjects, Bernard Jeune for taking part in the planning of the study as leader of``The longitudinal study of Danish centenarians'', and NIA grant RO1 AG16340 which funded the final preparation of the manuscript for publication after the untimely death of Pia Fromholt. reanalysed by Rubin, Wetzler, and Nebes (1986). Since that time there have been consistent findings using the word-cue technique with older adults (Chu & Downes, 2000;Hyland & Ackerman, 1988;Jansari & Parkin, 1996;Rubin & Schulkind, 1997a, 1997bsee Rybash, 1999, and the subsequent articles in his special issue of the Journal of Adult Development for reviews). Minor differences exist in the shape of the distribution with changes in procedure and subject population, but the bump appears repeatedly, even for individuals (Rubin & Schulkind, 1997b).…”

mentioning

confidence: 93%

Life-narrative and word-cued autobiographical memories in centenarians: Comparisons with 80-year-old control, depressed, and dementia groups

Fromholt

Mortensen

Torpdahl

et al. 2003

Memory

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“…To date, support for this claim lies primarily in evidence suggesting that the life script may partially underlie the reminiscence bump in autobiographical memory (i.e., the greater accessibility in recall of autobiographical events occurring in adolescence and early adulthood, roughly, from 15 to 30 years of age; Rubin & Schulkind, 1997). For instance, Berntsen and Rubin found that the age distribution of life script events features a bump between the ages of 15 and 30 as well.…”

Section: The Cultural Life Scriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

The cultural life script as cognitive schema: How the life script shapes memory for fictional life stories

Koppel

Berntsen

2013

Memory

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We tested, across three studies, the effect of the cultural life script on memory and its phenomenological properties. We focused, in particular, on the mnemonic effects of both schema-consistency and frequency in the life script. In addition to testing recognition (in Study 1) and recall (in Studies 2 and 3), we also collected remember/know judgments for remembered events (in Studies 1 and 2) and memory for their emotional valence (in Study 2). Our primary finding was that, across all three studies, higher-frequency events were more memorable than lower-frequency events, as measured through either recognition or recall. We also attained three additional, complementary effects: First, schema-inconsistent events received remember ratings more often than schema-consistent events (in Study 2, with a trend to this effect in Study 1); second, where an event's emotional valence was inconsistent with the life script, memory for its valence was reconstructed to fit the script (in Study 2); and, third, intrusions in recall were disproportionately for life script events (in Study 3), though that was not the case in recognition (in Study 1). We conclude that the life script serves as a cognitive schema in how it shapes memory and its phenomenological properties. Memory, 22, December , available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080December /09658211.2013 4 This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis inThe Cultural Life Script as Cognitive Schema: How the Life Script Shapes Memory for Fictional Life StoriesThe cognitive schema (i.e., a mental structure that organizes one's knowledge and assumptions about the world) represents one of the oldest and most influential concepts in cognitive psychology (see Neisser, 1976, for an overview of early work on schemata). Schemata have been found to structure cognition across a range of contexts, including, and most importantly for the present purpose, to play a role in structuring memory. Bartlett (1932) was the first investigator to bring widespread attention to the effect of schemata on recall, with his investigations demonstrating that, in recounting a Native American folk tale, English participants reconstructed the story to better fit the Western schema of a typical narrative structure (see Bergman & Roediger, 1999, for a more recent replication of Bartlett's findings). Much of the early experimental work on the cognitive underpinnings of memory likewise examined the role of schemata (see for example, Anderson & Pichert, 1978;Mandler & Johnson, 1977; Sulin & Dooling, 1974).In the present investigation, we followed in the vein of a more recent experimental tradition on the influence of schemata on memory. December , available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080December /09658211.2013 5 which had not actually been in the room. Brewer and Treyens interpret their findings for correct recognition and recall as indicating that schemata facilitate retrieval of items which are consistent with a given schema. However, in a su...

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The distribution of autobiographical memories across the lifespan

Cited by 237 publications

References 40 publications

The mental time line: An analogue of the mental number line in the mapping of life events

The mental time line: An analogue of the mental number line in the mapping of life events

Life-narrative and word-cued autobiographical memories in centenarians: Comparisons with 80-year-old control, depressed, and dementia groups

The cultural life script as cognitive schema: How the life script shapes memory for fictional life stories

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