The social causes and consequences of reduced autobiographical memory specificity

Abstract

Reduced autobiographical memory specificity (rAMS) refers to the difficulties some individuals have in retrieving memories of specific past events (i.e., a unique event that occurred at a particular time and place within a 24-hour timeframe). Although extensive research has supported the detrimental effects rAMS has on psychopathology, most studies have only examined the internal cognitive processes that are contributing to the emergence and maintenance of rAMS. To date, little is known regarding the effects social or interpersonal factors might have on, or result from, rAMS, despite theories and research demonstrating that autobiographical memories are frequently used in social contexts and for social functions. In this thesis, three separate studies have been designed to investigate the social processes and outcomes related to the reductions in and changes of autobiographical memory specificity. Study One examined whether perceived social support can protect against the effects that negative events have on subsequent memory specificity among 143 university students. Study Two investigated whether the learning processes underlying memory specificity can be modified through the use of reinforcing and discouraging social feedback in an operant conditioning procedure. Adults (N = 94) were randomly assigned into one of three experimental conditions: specific reinforce/ non-specific punish (SR/ NSP), specific punish/ non-specific reinforce (SP/ NSR), and consistent neutral feedback (control) and received either positive or negative social feedback from a confederate who instantly coded the specificity of each memory shared. Study Three explored whether memory specificity and co-rumination would be associated with perceived social support, general distress and friendship ties among 136 adolescents. Both individual-level analyses and social network-level analyses were conducted. Results from Study One showed that only for participants who experienced an exam-related stressor, reduced performance-specific social support from friends was associated with reduced memory specificity one month later, even when accounting for baseline memory specificity, individual differences in attitudes towards self, the experience of additional stressors, and gender. Study Two found that participants retrieved more specific memories and fewer non-specific memories when receiving positive feedback for their specific memories and negative feedback for their non-specific ones as compared to participants who received reinforcement and punishment in the reverse pattern or those who received neutral feedback. Study Three revealed that adolescents who reported a tendency to engage in co-rumination, in particular encouraging problem talk, and who are also able to retrieve specific autobiographical memories, perceived better support from friends than those who reported similar tendency to co-ruminate but had difficulties with retrieving specific memories. Although the aggregated network findings only indicated a significant homophily effect of gender, within-class network analyses suggested that both co-rumination and memory specificity were associated with the likelihood of having friendship ties. Overall, the series of studies have enhanced our understanding of the positive contribution social processes could have on autobiographical memory specificity and vice versa, as the two processes influence one another in a bidirectional manner. In view of the theoretical and clinical implications of our findings, future research ideas, as well as treatment and prevention approaches, are recommended.