The Effects of Instruction on the Frequency and Characteristics of Involuntary Autobiographical Memories

Abstract

The present study investigated the effects of experimental instruction on the retrieval of involuntary autobiographical memories (IAMs). In previous studies of IAMs, participants were either instructed to record only memories (henceforth, the restricted group) or any thoughts (henceforth, the unrestricted group). However, it is unknown whether these two different types of instructions influence the retrieval of IAMs. The most recent study by Vannucci and her colleagues directly addressed this question and demonstrated that the frequency and phenomenological characteristics of IAMs strongly depended on the type of instruction received. The goal of the present study was to replicate these results while addressing some limitations of the Vannucci et al. study and to test three possible mechanisms proposed to explain the effect of instructions on the retrieval of IAMs. Our results accord well with the data presented by Vannucci et al. When participants were instructed to record only IAMs (the restricted group), they reported more memories and rated them as being retrieved in a more goal-oriented fashion. Their memories also were less clear, vivid, detailed and were less frequently accompanied by physiological reactions, compared to memories reported by the participants in the unrestricted group. In addition, the events to which the memories referred were rated as more unusual and personal by the restricted group. These results are consistent with the assumption that retrieval of IAMs depends on the type of instructions used in a study. In addition, our results suggest that one of the main mechanisms underlying the higher frequency of IAMs in the restricted group may be participants’ ability to monitor the stream of consciousness and to extract autobiographical content from this flow. Further implications of the effect of instructions for IAMs research are discussed.

How intention and monitoring your thoughts influence characteristics of autobiographical memories

“…We expected selective monitoring to increase the likelihood that memories with low accessibility were retrieved independent of intention. First, and consistent with previous studies (Barzykowski & Niedźwieńska, ; Vannucci et al ., ), selective monitoring increased the frequency of memories (main effect of monitoring), and this increase was particularly pronounced in the voluntary condition (interaction between intention and monitoring). We therefore replicated a previous finding in the literature on involuntary memories and showed that this also holds true for voluntary memories.…”

“…First, it can be argued that participants’ retrospection in deciding whether a thought was a memory or not may be inaccurate. This also pertains to previous studies (Barzykowski & Niedźwieńska, ; Barzykowski & Staugaard, ; Vannucci et al ., ). However, participants did not report any difficulties with this judgement and made it relatively quickly.…”

“…Barzykowski and Niedźwieńska () replicated Vannucci et al . 's () design using both online and retrospective ratings.…”

“…We employed a modified and fully computerized task based on Schlagman and Kvavilashvili's design (). The Involuntary Memories Program (IMP) is described elsewhere in detail (e.g., Barzykowski & Niedźwieńska, , pp. 5–6; Barzykowski & Staugaard, , p. 524).…”

Manipulating cues in mind wandering: Verbal cues affect the frequency and the temporal focus of mind wandering

“…Participants completed a modified version of the computer-based vigilance task developed by Schlagman and Kvavilashvili (2008) and already used in previous studies (Barzykowski & Niedzẃieńska, 2016;Vannucci et al, 2014;Vannucci, Pelagatti, Hanczakowski, Mazzoni, & Rossi Paccani, 2015). The task consisted of 600 trials, presented in a fixed order, each remaining on the screen for 1.5 sec.…”