Modifying the Frequency and Characteristics of Involuntary Autobiographical Memories

Recent studies have shown that involuntary autobiographical memories (IAMs) can be elicited in the laboratory. Here we assessed whether the specific instructions given to participants can change the nature of the IAMs reported, in terms of both their frequency and their characteristics. People were either made or not made aware that the aim of the study was to examine IAMs. They reported mental contents either whenever they became aware of them or following a predetermined schedule. Both making people aware of the aim of the study and following a fixed schedule of interruptions increased significantly the number of IAMs reported. When aware of the aim of the study, participants reported more specific memories that had been retrieved and rehearsed more often in the past. These findings demonstrate that the number and characteristics of memories depend on the procedure used. Explanations of these effects and their implications for research on IAMs are discussed.已有研究表明，非自主自传体记忆（involuntary autobiographical memories, IAMs）可在实验室环境中被诱发。本研究旨在考察：给予被试的特定指导语是否会改变所报告的非自主自传体记忆的属性，涵盖其出现频率与各项特征。实验中，部分被试会被告知本研究的目的为考察非自主自传体记忆，另一部分则不会被透露该研究的核心目标。被试需在两种报告模式中任选其一：要么在意识到脑海中浮现相关内容时即刻上报，要么按照预先设定的时间间隔进行汇报。无论是告知被试研究目的，还是采用固定间隔的打断式汇报流程，均能显著提升被试报告的非自主自传体记忆数量。当被试知晓本研究目的时，他们所报告的记忆更具体，且这类记忆在过往被提取与复述的频率也更高。上述研究结果表明，非自主自传体记忆的数量与特征取决于所采用的实验范式。本研究还将对上述效应的成因及其对非自主自传体记忆相关研究的启示展开讨论。