Event Characteristics and Autobiographical Memory Consistency in Adolescence Público
Simpson, Emma (Spring 2021)
Published
Abstract
Autobiographical memories serve important aspects of development in adolescence, contributing to a stable sense of self and identity and comprising one’s life story. However, these memories are subject to change, as individuals may be inconsistent in the details they recall over time. The present research examined event characteristics as potential predictors of memory consistency in adolescents’ (12- to 14-year-olds) autobiographical memory narratives. Event characteristics and consistency were also assessed as a function of the time period in which the event occurred, as participants provided memories for early and recent events, as well as a “most significant” event. The event characteristics emotion, duration, culturally shared, location change, and impact showed significant main effects of time period. Consistency also showed significant main effects of time period, such that early memories were more consistent than those occurring more recently. This finding is in line with previous research and suggests that the details of early memories are perhaps more fixed than recent memories, as there is more opportunity for rehearsal. Finally, only two event characteristics, emotion and location change, were significant predictors of consistency in one time period, ages 6 to 10. These findings suggest that, for adolescents, event characteristics may not be predictive of consistency in autobiographical memories. The relevance of these memories to one’s sense of self, especially during adolescence, further supports this interpretation, suggesting that factors salient to self-identity may be more predictive of consistency in autobiographical memories.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction..................................................................................................................................... 1
Methods......................................................................................................................................... 11
Participants................................................................................................................................ 11
Materials and Procedure............................................................................................................ 12
Coding and Data Reduction....................................................................................................... 14
Consistency............................................................................................................................ 14
Event Characteristics............................................................................................................. 16
Data Analytic Plan..................................................................................................................... 17
Results........................................................................................................................................... 17
Event characteristics.................................................................................................................. 18
Consistency................................................................................................................................ 21
Discussion..................................................................................................................................... 22
Limitations and Future Directions............................................................................................. 26
Conclusion................................................................................................................................. 27
References..................................................................................................................................... 29
Appendix A. Coding Scheme........................................................................................................ 35
Appendix B. Example Narratives.................................................................................................. 36
List of Tables
Table 1........................................................................................................................................... 18
Means and Standard Deviations of Event Characteristics
List of Figures
Figure 1.......................................................................................................................................... 20
Event Characteristics with Significant Mean Differences Across Time Periods
Figure 2.......................................................................................................................................... 21
Mean Proportion of Consistent Details of Narratives Across Time Periods
About this Honors Thesis
School | |
---|---|
Department | |
Degree | |
Submission | |
Language |
|
Research Field | |
Palabra Clave | |
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor | |
Committee Members |
Primary PDF
Thumbnail | Title | Date Uploaded | Actions |
---|---|---|---|
|
Event Characteristics and Autobiographical Memory Consistency in Adolescence () | 2021-04-12 10:27:39 -0400 |
|
Supplemental Files
Thumbnail | Title | Date Uploaded | Actions |
---|