Abstract
Autobiographical memory specificity is known to contribute to better mental health, social problem-solving, and episodic future thinking. While numerous studies have addressed variables that affect autobiographical memory specificity, little is known regarding the meta-memory processes that underpin memory retrieval. In this study, we introduced two meta-memory constructs, ease of retrieval judgments and anticipation of negative emotion evoked, which potentially affect autobiographical memory specificity. Participants (N = 109) first rated the ease of retrieval and anticipated emotions for positive and negative words used in a subsequent autobiographical memory test. We used the Optional Instructions of the Autobiographical Memory Test, in which participants were instructed that “specific memories are better, but other memories are permissible,” allowing them to adjust how much cognitive effort they spent on generative retrieval after a failure of direct retrieval. They also self-judged whether each retrieval was generative (using additional cues with cognitive effort) or direct (immediate recall without much cognitive effort). Results showed that for generative retrieval, ease of retrieval was associated with greater specific and general memories and fewer omissions. A more negative anticipated emotion was associated with fewer specific memories and greater omissions, but was not with general memories. These results suggest that low retrievability and anticipated negative emotion prevent individuals from devoting efforts to generative retrieval. The lack of association between anticipated negative emotion and general memory calls into question the functional avoidance hypothesis regarding autobiographical memory specificity. We discussed how participants judged these meta-memories and directions for future research.
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The data are available on the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/znbg8/).
Notes
The functional avoidance hypothesis posits that, compared with specific memories, general memories for negative cues less affect emotions. However, previous work has suggested that general memories for negative cues also evoke as much or more negative emotions than specific memories (e.g., Matsumoto, Watson, et al., 2023b).
In Japanese, the positive words were 成功した, 勇敢な, 希望に満ちた, 愛された, 受け入れられた, 有能な, 思いやりがある, 信頼された, 充実した, 幸せな, 面白い, 興奮した, 温厚な, 素敵な and negative words were 失敗した, 傷ついた, 後悔した, 劣った, 不器用な, 悲しい, 緊張した, 失望した, 孤独な, 無能な, 見捨てられた, 依存的な, 未熟な, 弱気な, しつこい.
If meta-memories were judged based on semantic knowledge, why was no association observed between semantic associations and meta-memory judgments? We believe that output judgments of retrieved memories played a role in this outcome. Because we instructed participants to recall specific memories, if semantic associated information came to mind, participants likely suppressed that information to follow the instructions. In the dataset excluding direct retrieval, semantic association responses accounted for only 2% of all trials. This view is supported by the two-stage model of OGM, which highlights that accessibility and output judgments determine memory reporting (Matsumoto & Mochizuki, 2019).
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Acknowledgements
The author acknowledges research assistants Yuko Date, Shiho Zenmoto, Kenji Yamada, and Sho Nakano for their help.
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This work was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Grant No. 21H00947).
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Matsumoto, N. Meta-memory (prediction) of specific autobiographical recall: An experimental approach using a modified autobiographical memory test. Mem Cogn (2024). https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-024-01541-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-024-01541-8