The self-reference effect in memory: A meta-analysis

Symons, Cynthia S.; Johnson, Blair T.

doi:10.1037/0033-2909.121.3.371

Cited by 1,361Memory Processes and InfluencesIdentity, Memory, and TherapyCognitive Functions and Memory

The self-reference effect in memory: A meta-analysis

Symons, Cynthia S., Johnson, Blair T.·1997·Psychological Bulletin

DOI 10.1037/0033-2909.121.3.371

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Abstract

In this review, the authors examine the basis for the mnemonic superiority that results from relating material to the self. A meta-analysis confirms the expected self-reference effect (SRE) in memory, with self-referent encoding strategies yielding superior memory relative to both semantic and other-referent encoding strategies. Consistent with theory and research that suggest self-reference (SR) produces both organized and elaborate processing, the SRE was smaller (a) when SR is compared with other-reference (OR) rather than semantic encoding and (b) when the comparison tasks promote both organization and elaboration. Thus, the SRE appears to result primarily because the self is a well-developed and often-used construct that promotes elaboration and organization of encoded information. The authors discuss the implications of these and other findings for theories of the SRE and for future research.

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Personality: Developments In The Study Of Private Experience
Singer, J. E. A. (1987) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.38.1.533 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Imagining self and others: Reply to Brown, Keenan, and Potts.
Lord, C. G. (1987) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.53.3.445 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Self-reference versus desirability ratings and memory for traits.
McCaul, K. D., & Maki, R. H. (1984) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.47.5.953 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Self-referent processing and recall of prose.
Reeder, G. D., McCormick, C. B., & Esselman, E. D. (1987) · Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-0663.79.3.243 · Cited by 1 · see citing works

Flagged first, then by citations

Sorted by citations

Combining effect size estimates in meta-analysis with repeated measures and independent-groups designs.
Morris, S. B., & DeShon, R. P. (2002) · Psychological Methods · doi:10.1037/1082-989x.7.1.105 · Cited by 2,502 · see citing works
“For example, in a meta-analysis on the effects of self-reference on memory (Symons & Johnson, 1997), studies using a single-group pretest–posttest design produced a mean effect size that was very close to the estimate from studies that included a control group.”
Method
Finding the self? An event-related fMRI study
Kelley, W. M., Macrae, C. N., Wyland, C. L., Caglar, S., Inati, S., & Heatherton, T. F. (2002) · Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1162/08989290260138672 · Cited by 1,606 · see citing works
“The message that has emerged from subsequent studies that have investigated the relationship between self and memory function is a consistent one—self-reference permits superior memory relative to other semantic encoding tasks (see Symons & Johnson , 1997).”
BackgroundResultInfluential
One Hundred Years of Social Psychology Quantitatively Described
Richard, F. D., Bond, C. F., & Stokes-Zoota, J. J. (2003) · Review of General Psychology · doi:10.1037/1089-2680.7.4.331 · Cited by 1,558 · see citing works
Is There a Universal Positivity Bias in Attributions? A Meta-Analytic Review of Individual, Developmental, and Cultural Differences in the Self-Serving Attributional Bias.
Mezulis, A. H., Abramson, L. Y., Hyde, J. S., & Hankin, B. L. (2004) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.130.5.711 · Cited by 1,281 · see citing works
On the use of college students in social science research: Insights from a second-order meta-analysis
Peterson, R. A. (2001) · Journal of Consumer Research · doi:10.1086/323732 · Cited by 1,258 · see citing works
Variables associated with achievement in higher education: A systematic review of meta-analyses.
Schneider, M., & Preckel, F. (2017) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/bul0000098 · Cited by 1,162 · see citing works
Understanding tailoring in communicating about health
Hawkins, R. P., Kreuter, M., Resnicow, K., Fishbein, M., & Dijkstra, A. (2008) · Health Education Research · doi:10.1093/her/cyn004 · Cited by 934 · see citing works
“Such self-referential thinking may also increase the likelihood of central processing [23].”
Background
PERSECUTORY DELUSIONS: A REVIEW AND THEORETICAL INTEGRATION
Bentall, R. P., Corcoran, R., Howard, R. J., Blackwood, N., & Kinderman, P. (2001) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/s0272-7358(01)00106-4 · Cited by 876 · see citing works
“…in ‘‘deep’’ levels of semantic processing which would be expected for processing material related to the self (the left lateral inferior frontal cortex; Symons & Johnson, 1997; Wagner et al., 1998), egocentric memory (ventral striatum; White, 1997) and assessments of the motivational content of…”
Background
Fixed effects vs. random effects meta-analysis models: implications for cumulative research knowledge.
Hunter, J. E., & Schmidt, F. L. (2000) · International Journal of Selection and Assessment · doi:10.1111/1468-2389.00156 · Cited by 833 · see citing works
“…Jorgensen, Johnson, Kolodzie0, and Scheer (1996), Knight, Fabes and Higgins (1996), Newcomb and Bagwell (1995), Polich, Pollock, and Bloom (1994), Symons and Johnson (1997), Van Ijzendorn (1995), Voyer, Voyer and Bryden (1995), Wood (1987), and Wood, Lundgren, Ouellette, Busceme and Blackstone…”
Background
A Meta-analysis of Functional Neuroimaging Studies of Self- and Other Judgments Reveals a Spatial Gradient for Mentalizing in Medial Prefrontal Cortex
Denny, B. T., Kober, H., Wager, T. D., & Ochsner, K. N. (2012) · Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1162/jocn_a_00233 · Cited by 830 · see citing works
“…have long debated the nature of the mental representations that separate the self from others (Goldman, 1992; Stich & Nichols, 1992), and addressing this question has generated an extensive experimental literature (Symons & Johnson, 1997; Klein & Kihlstrom, 1986; Rogers, Kuiper, & Kirker, 1977).”
Background
Seeing it their way: Evidence for rapid and involuntary computation of what other people see.
Samson, D., Apperly, I. A., Braithwaite, J. J., Andrews, B. J., & Scott, S. (2010) · Journal of Experimental Psychology Human Perception & Performance · doi:10.1037/a0018729 · Cited by 739 · see citing works
THE UNFOLDING MODEL OF VOLUNTARY TURNOVER: A REPLICATION AND EXTENSION.
Lee, T. W., Mitchell, T. R., Holtom, B. C., McDaneil, L. S., & Hill, J. W. (1999) · Academy of Management Journal · doi:10.2307/257015 · Cited by 660 · see citing works
Parietal cortex and representation of the mental Self
Lou, H. C., Luber, B., Crupain, M., Keenan, J. P., Nowak, M., Kjaer, T. W., Sackeim, H. A., & Lisanby, S. H. (2004) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0400049101 · Cited by 631 · see citing works
In search of the self: a positron emission tomography study
Craik, F. I. M., Moroz, T. M., Moscovitch, M., Stuss, D. T., Winocur, G., Tulving, E., & Kapur, S. (1999) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/1467-9280.00102 · Cited by 600 · see citing works
Medial prefrontal activity predicts memory for self
Macrae, C. N. (2004) · Cerebral Cortex · doi:10.1093/cercor/bhh025 · Cited by 581 · see citing works
“These findings are noteworthy as the additional recruitment of these frontal regions, particularly MPFC, may explain the general memory enhancement that is afforded to materials that trigger self-referential mental activity (Symons and Johnson, 1997).”
Background
Adaptive memory: Survival processing enhances retention.
Nairne, J. S., Thompson, S. R., & Pandeirada, J. N. S. (2007) · Journal of Experimental Psychology Learning Memory and Cognition · doi:10.1037/0278-7393.33.2.263 · Cited by 577 · see citing works
“To explain the self-reference effect, for example, researchers have suggested that the self is " a well-developed and often-used construct in memory that promotes both elaboration and organization of encoded information " (Symons & Johnson, 1997, p. 372).”
BackgroundMethodInfluential
The neural correlates of direct and reflected self-knowledge
Ochsner, K. N., Beer, J. S., Robertson, E. R., Cooper, J. C., Gabrieli, J. D. E., Kihsltrom, J. F., & D'Esposito, M. (2005) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2005.06.069 · Cited by 562 · see citing works
“For example, it is possible that evaluating your own friendliness recruits highly accessible memory representations that are more structured and complex than those used to evaluate the friendliness of a work colleague (Dweck et al., 2003; Higgins and Bargh, 1987; Symons and Johnson, 1997).”
Background
Emotion and autobiographical memory
Holland, A. C., & Kensinger, E. A. (2010) · Physics of Life Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.plrev.2010.01.006 · Cited by 540 · see citing works
“Subsequent research also has confirmed that events with high personal involvement or self-relevance, concepts closely tied to the idea of “consequentiality” described by Brown and Kulik [46], are more likely to be remembered than events with less personal relevance [323,383].”
Neural basis of cultural influence on self-representation
Zhu, Y., Zhang, L., Fan, J., & Han, S. (2007) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.08.047 · Cited by 701 · see citing works
“Typically, selfdescriptive traits are better remembered than traits descriptive of others (the self-reference effect; Symons and Johnson, 1997).”
Background
Self-reflection and the brain: A theoretical review and meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies with implications for schizophrenia
van der Meer, L., Costafreda, S., Aleman, A., & David, A. S. (2010) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2009.12.004 · Cited by 520 · see citing works
“The self-reference effect refers to the finding that people tend to remember words when processed in relation to themselves better than words processed more generally [see Symons and Johnson (1997) for a meta-analysis].”
Background
The Integrative Self: How Self-Reference Integrates Perception and Memory
Sui, J., & Humphreys, G. W. (2015) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2015.08.015 · Cited by 502 · see citing works
In Search of the Emotional Self: An fMRI Study Using Positive and Negative Emotional Words
Fossati, P., Hevenor, S. J., Graham, S. J., Grady, C., Keightley, M. L., Craik, F., & Mayberg, H. (2003) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.160.11.1938 · Cited by 635 · see citing works
“Numerous studies have established the reliability and validity of this phenomenon, labeled the “self-reference effect” (12).”
Background
Synchrony in Psychotherapy: A Review and an Integrative Framework for the Therapeutic Alliance
Koole, S. L., & Tschacher, W. (2016) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00862 · Cited by 456 · see citing works
“People’s memory for what is associated with the self is considerably better than people’s memory for what is dissociated with the self (Symons and Johnson, 1997).”
Background
Self-Referential Cognition and Empathy in Autism
Lombardo, M. V., Barnes, J. L., Wheelwright, S. J., & Baron‐Cohen, S. (2007) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000883 · Cited by 439 · see citing works
“Typically developing adults show a robust SRE when self-referential information processing is compared to information processing in relation to other people or to semantic manipulations[ 26 ].”
Background
Towards a functional neuroanatomy of self-processing: effects of faces and words
Kircher, T. T. J., Senior, C., Phillips, M. L., Benson, P. J., Bullmore, E. T., Brammer, M., Simmons, A., Williams, S. C. R., Bartels, M., & David, A. S. (2000) · Cognitive Brain Research · doi:10.1016/s0926-6410(00)00036-7 · Cited by 403 · see citing works
Including others in the self
Aron, A., McLaughlin-Volpe, T., Mashek, D., Lewandowski, G., Wright, S. C., & Aron, E. N. (2004) · European Review of Social Psychology · doi:10.1080/10463280440000008 · Cited by 391 · see citing works
“For example, in a meta-analysis of 126 articles and book chapters on just the memory aspect of the effect, Symons and Johnson (1997) reported a consistent overall better memory for words studied in relation to self than for words studied in relation to other persons.”
MethodResult
Motivation, Emotion, and Cognition
(2004) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781410610515 · Cited by 396 · see citing works
Medial prefrontal activity differentiates self from close others
Heatherton, T. F., Wyland, C. L., Macrae, C. N., Demos, K. E., Denny, B. T., & Kelley, W. M. (2006) · Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience · doi:10.1093/scan/nsl001 · Cited by 380 · see citing works
“Additionally, only personal closeness, not familiarity, influenced the effect sizes (Symons and Johnson, 1997).”
BackgroundResultInfluential
The Seven Sins of Memory
Schacter, D. L., Chiao, J., & Mitchell, J. P. (2003) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1196/annals.1279.012 · Cited by 455 · see citing works
Is Self Special? A Critical Review of Evidence From Experimental Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience.
Gillihan, S. J., & Farah, M. J. (2005) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.131.1.76 · Cited by 470 · see citing works
“The SRE in memory has been replicated many times (see Symons & Johnson, 1997, for a full review).”
BackgroundInfluential
Untitled work
Santiesteban (2012) · doi:10.1016/j.cub.2012.10.018 · Cited by 357 · see citing works
Engaging students in active learning: The case for personalized multimedia messages.
Moreno, R., & Mayer, R. E. (2000) · Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-0663.92.4.724 · Cited by 371 · see citing works
“However, because most of the past research on self-reference has focused on its mnemonic effects ( Symons & Johnson, 1997 ), we used two measures of learning: retention—in which we assessed memory for the basic factual information that was presented—and problem-solving transfer—in which we asked students to solve new…”
BackgroundMethodInfluential
Making connections: Replicating and extending the utility value intervention in the classroom.
Hulleman, C. S., Kosovich, J. J., Barron, K. E., & Daniel, D. B. (2016) · Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1037/edu0000146 · Cited by 370 · see citing works
“In addition, simply referencing the self when learning new material can lead to learning gains (e.g., Barney, 2007; for a review see Symons & Johnson, 1997).”
Background
Understanding the impact of web personalization on user information processing and decision outcomes
Tam, K. Y., & Ho, S. Y. (2006) · Journal of the Association for Information Systems · doi:10.5555/2017317.2017322 · Cited by 354 · see citing works
Shocks as causes of turnover: What they are and how organizations can manage them
Holtom, B. C., Mitchell, T. R., Lee, T., & Inderrieden, E. J. (2005) · Human Resource Management · doi:10.1002/hrm.20074 · Cited by 357 · see citing works
Medial prefrontal cortex and the self in major depression
Lemogne, C., Delaveau, P., Freton, M., Guionnet, S., & Fossati, P. (2012) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2010.11.034 · Cited by 345 · see citing works
Explanations of the endowment effect: an integrative review
Morewedge, C. K., & Giblin, C. E. (2015) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2015.04.004 · Cited by 345 · see citing works
Reinvigorating the Concept of Situation in Social Psychology
Reis, H. T. (2008) · Personality and Social Psychology Review · doi:10.1177/1088868308321721 · Cited by 337 · see citing works
“Moreover, Symons and Johnson’s (1997) metaanalysis of 65 studies found that the self-referential advantage was twice as large when the other was close and familiar, as opposed to distant and unfamiliar (ds = .”
Therapist Skills: A Cognitive Model of their Acquisition and Refinement
Bennett–Levy, J. (2005) · Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy · doi:10.1017/s1352465805002420 · Cited by 335 · see citing works
“Furthermore, memory research indicates that self-referenced information is recalled better than almost any other kind of knowledge (Hartlep and Forsyth, 2000; Symons and Johnson, 1997) – “If I practise cognitive therapy techniques on myself, I tend to recall them better”.”
Background
The Self in Neuroscience and Psychiatry
David, A., & Kircher, T. (2003) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511543708 · Cited by 313 · see citing works
Yours or mine? Ownership and memory
Cunningham, S. J., Turk, D. J., Macdonald, L. M., & Macrae, C. N. (2007) · Consciousness and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.concog.2007.04.003 · Cited by 307 · see citing works
“From the source monitoring perspective often applied to SRE findings, it could be postulated that representations of owned items are enriched by extant selfknowledge (see Klein & Loftus, 1988; Symons & Johnson, 1997).”
BackgroundMethodResultInfluential
A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study of Neural Dissociations between Brand and Person Judgments
Yoon, C., Gutchess, A. H., Feinberg, F. M., & Polk, T. A. (2006) · Journal of Consumer Research · doi:10.1086/504132 · Cited by 304 · see citing works
“…1988) and that subsequent memory for self-referential judgments is better than for judgments about another person, especially if that person is not personally well known to the target, for example, a famous public figure or remote acquaintance (Bower and Gilligan 1979; Symons and Johnson 1997).”
Background
Cognitive Neuropsychiatric Models of Persecutory Delusions
Blackwood, N., Howard, R. J., Bentall, R. P., & Murray, R. M. (2001) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.158.4.527 · Cited by 294 · see citing works
“These areas have been previously implicated in “deep” levels of semantic processing (left lateral inferior frontal cortex) (116, 117), “egocentric memory” (ventral striatum) (118), and assessing the motivational content of stimuli (anterior cingulate) (119).”
Background
Social cognition: A multi level analysis
Beer, J. S., & Ochsner, K. N. (2006) · Brain Research · doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2006.01.002 · Cited by 286 · see citing works
“Later studies provided strong evidence that the same types of processes (i.e., elaboration, organization) are engaged for self-perception and other-perception but in a more intense manner for the self and emotionally close others (e.g., Klein and Kihlstrom, 1986; Symons and Johnson, 1997).”
Background
Neural substrates of the self‐memory system: New insights from a meta‐analysis
Martinelli, P., Sperduti, M., & Piolino, P. (2013) · Human Brain Mapping · doi:10.1002/hbm.22008 · Cited by 281 · see citing works
“Although the interconnection of the self and memory systems is behaviorally well established [Rogers et al., 1977; Symons and Johnson, 1997] and theoretically described [Conway, 2005; Haslam et al., 2010; Klein, 2010], at present, little is known about their interconnections at the neural level.”
Background
Comparing narrative and informational videos to increase mammography in low-income African American women
Kreuter, M. W., Holmes, K., Alcaraz, K., Kalesan, B., Rath, S., Richert, M., McQueen, A., Caito, N., Robinson, L., & Clark, E. M. (2010) · Patient Education and Counseling · doi:10.1016/j.pec.2010.09.008 · Cited by 279 · see citing works
“Self-referential processing involves deeper, more elaborative cognition [16] and may enhance persuasion [17].”
Self‐expansion Model of Motivation and Cognition in Close Relationships and Beyond
Aron, A. P., Aron, E. N., & Norman, C. C. (2003) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9780470998557.ch19 · Cited by 279 · see citing works
Coupling social attention to the self forms a network for personal significance
Sui, J., Rotshtein, P., & Humphreys, G. W. (2013) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1221862110 · Cited by 263 · see citing works
“There are a considerable number of studies on the effect of self-association in social psychology that have shown that there is enhanced importance assigned to self-associated objects (1), increased preference (2, 3), and stronger memory (4, 5).”
Background
In search of the depressive self: extended medial prefrontal network during self-referential processing in major depression
Lemogne, C., le Bastard, G., Mayberg, H., Volle, E., Bergouignan, L., Lehéricy, S., Allilaire, J.-F., & Fossati, P. (2009) · Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience · doi:10.1093/scan/nsp008 · Cited by 238 · see citing works
The potential of comics in science communication
Farinella, M. (2018) · Journal of Science Communication · doi:10.22323/2.17010401 · Cited by 204 · see citing works
“Finally, comics often rely on the use of characters and situation models, which provide the basis for emotional attachment and self-reference, which can also facilitate the formation of new memories [Symons and Johnson, 1997].”
Method
Self-development: integrating cognitive, socioemotional, and neuroimaging perspectives.
Pfeifer, J. H., & Peake, S. J. (2012) · Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1016/j.dcn.2011.07.012 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Self-Processing and the Default Mode Network: Interactions with the Mirror Neuron System
Molnar-Szakacs, I., & Uddin, L. (2013) · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnhum.2013.00571 · Cited by 208 · see citing works
“One of the most important ways to identify one’s own person is to recognize one’s face and distinguish it from other persons’ faces.”
Background
Depressive cognition: Self-reference and depth of processing
Wisco, B. E. (2009) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2009.03.003 · Cited by 216 · see citing works
Neural Processes Supporting Young and Older Adults' Emotional Memories
Kensinger, E., & Schacter, D. (2008) · Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1162/jocn.2008.20080 · Cited by 233 · see citing works
“Heatherton, Banfield, & Kelley, 2004; Kelley et al., 2002; Craik et al., 1999; see meta-analysis by Northoff et al., 2006), a type of processing that enhances the effectiveness of encoding (Rogers, Kuiper, & Kirker, 1977; see Symons & Johnson, 1997 for a review).”
Background
The psychological and neurological bases of leader self-complexity and effects on adaptive decision-making.
Hannah, S. T., Balthazard, P. A., Waldman, D. A., Jennings, P. L., & Thatcher, R. W. (2013) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0032257 · Cited by 210 · see citing works
The representation of self and person knowledge in the medial prefrontal cortex
Wagner, D. D., Haxby, J. V., & Heatherton, T. F. (2012) · WIREs Cognitive Science · doi:10.1002/wcs.1183 · Cited by 201 · see citing works
Self-reflection and the temporal focus of the wandering mind
Smallwood, J., Schooler, J. W., Turk, D. J., Cunningham, S. J., Burns, P., & Macrae, C. N. (2011) · Consciousness and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.concog.2010.12.017 · Cited by 202 · see citing works
“…a set of trait adjectives applied to one of several referents (i.e., self, best friend and the UK prime minister, see Rogers, Kuiper, & Kirker, 1977), thereby creating a task context that varied the applicability of self-reflection (Kelley et al., 2002; Rogers et al., 1977; Symons & Johnson, 1997).”
Background
Facing the future: Memory as an evolved system for planning future acts
Klein, S. B., Robertson, T. E., & Delton, A. W. (2009) · Memory & Cognition · doi:10.3758/mc.38.1.13 · Cited by 202 · see citing works
“We made this prediction on the basis of Klein and colleagues’ finding that tasks equated for the amount of organization that they encourage typically yield comparable recall performance (e.g., Klein & Kihlstrom, 1986; Klein & Loftus 1988, 1990; for a review, see Symons & Johnson, 1997 ).”
MethodResultInfluential
Social psychology as a natural kind
Mitchell, J. P. (2009) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2009.03.008 · Cited by 209 · see citing works
“self-referentially. This ‘self-reference effect’ [ 19 ] has typically been observed as better memory for stimuli that participants initially”
Background
Whether and How Virtual Try-On Influences Consumer Responses to an Apparel Web Site
Merle, A., Sénécal, S., & St-Onge, A. (2012) · International Journal of Electronic Commerce · doi:10.2753/jec1086-4415160302 · Cited by 200 · see citing works
“Furthermore, research on self-representing information processing (see [65] for a review) suggests that a self-representing effect exists.”
Background
A relation between rest and the self in the brain?
Wicker, B., Ruby, P. M., Royet, J., & Fonlupt, P. (2003) · Brain Research Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.brainresrev.2003.08.003 · Cited by 195 · see citing works
Working mechanisms of computer-tailored health education: evidence from smoking cessation
Dijkstra, A. (2005) · Health Education Research · doi:10.1093/her/cyh014 · Cited by 193 · see citing works
“Self-referent encoding has been shown to enhance recall of offered information in several studies (Symons and Johnson, 1997).”
Background
The neural correlates of intentional and incidental self processing
Kircher, T. T. J., Brammer, M. J., Bullmore, E. T., Simmons, A., Bartels, M., & David, A. S. (2002) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/s0028-3932(01)00138-5 · Cited by 194 · see citing works
“From this research it has been concluded that self-structure in memory is highly elaborated and organised, invokes multiple associations, is continually and incidentally updated, well learned and often used [33,48,63].”
Background
Bullying and employee turnover among healthcare workers: a three-wave prospective study
Høgh, A., Hoel, H., & Carneiro, I. G. (2011) · Journal of Nursing Management · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2834.2011.01264.x · Cited by 190 · see citing works
Watching Eyes effects: When others meet the self
Conty, L., George, N., & Hietanen, J. K. (2016) · Consciousness and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.concog.2016.08.016 · Cited by 187 · see citing works
“Typically, individuals show better subsequent memory for items encoded with regard to the self compared to other encoding conditions (Hull, Van Treuren, Ashford, Propsom, & Andrus, 1988; Klein, 2012; Symons & Johnson, 1997).”
Dissociable effects of conscious emotion regulation strategies on explicit and implicit memory.
Dillon, D., Ritchey, M., Johnson, B., & LaBar, K. (2007) · Emotion · doi:10.1037/1528-3542.7.2.354 · Cited by 206 · see citing works
“The self-referential memory effect refers to the fact that items encoded in relation to the self are typically very well-recalled (for meta-analysis, see Symons & Johnson, 1997 ).”
BackgroundSelf-citation
Self-related neural response to tailored smoking-cessation messages predicts quitting
Chua, H. F., Ho, S.-H. S., Jasinska, A. J., Polk, T. A., Welsh, R. C., Liberzon, I., & Strecher, V. J. (2011) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nn.2761 · Cited by 185 · see citing works
Ageing and the self-reference effect in memory
Gutchess, A. H., Kensinger, E. A., Yoon, C., & Schacter, D. L. (2007) · Memory · doi:10.1080/09658210701701394 · Cited by 180 · see citing works
Information processing and cognitive organization in unipolar depression: Specificity and comorbidity issues.
Dozois, D. J. A., & Dobson, K. S. (2001) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037//0021-843x.110.2.236 · Cited by 180 · see citing works
Self, Memory, and the Self-Reference Effect
Klein, S. B. (2012) · Personality and Social Psychology Review · doi:10.1177/1088868311434214 · Cited by 179 · see citing works
“However, as subsequent experimental procedures (Klein & Loftus, 1988) and metaanalytic review (Symons & Johnson, 1997) have shown, two processes emerged as the most likely contenders—the elaborative processing hypothesis and the organizational processing hypothesis.”
BackgroundMethod
Can the survival recall advantage be explained by basic memory processes?
Weinstein, Y., Bugg, J. M., & Roediger, H. L., III (2008) · Memory & Cognition · doi:10.3758/mc.36.5.913 · Cited by 178 · see citing works
“…be related to the degree of intimacy of the subject in the 3rd person instructions (e.g., Bower & Gilligan, 1979), although a meta-analysis found an overall significant effect of self-reference across 17 studies that used a highly intimate 3rd person (e.g., one's mother; Symons & Johnson, 1997).”
Background
Confusions of Self With Close Others
Mashek, D. J., Aron, A. P., & Boncimino, M. (2003) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167202250220 · Cited by 173 · see citing works
“Third, Symons and Johnson (1997) coded the other-referent in all 65 of the relevant self-reference studies in their meta-analysis for degree of familiarity and degree of intimacy.”
BackgroundMethodInfluential
Structures for Facilitating Student Reflection
Grossman, R. W. (2008) · College Teaching · doi:10.3200/ctch.57.1.15-22 · Cited by 175 · see citing works
“This is called the self-reference effect and has consistently been shown to improve memory and enhance learning (Rogers, Kuiper, and Kirker 1977; Symons and Johnson 1997).”
Result
The contribution of autobiographical significance to semantic memory
Westmacott, R., & Moscovitch, M. (2003) · Memory & Cognition · doi:10.3758/bf03196114 · Cited by 175 · see citing works
Differential contributions of hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex to self-projection and self-referential processing
Kurczek, J., Wechsler, E., Ahuja, S., Jensen, U., Cohen, N. J., Tranel, D., & Duff, M. (2015) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.05.002 · Cited by 157 · see citing works
“…2003; Frith and Frith, 1999; D’Argembeau et al., 2005; Fossati et al., 2004; Gusnard et al., 2001; Kelley et al., 2002), episodic memory (Addis et al., 2004; Cabeza et al., 2004; Gilboa, 2004; Rogers et al., 1977; Symons and Johnson, 1997) and social functioning (Eisenberger and Lieberman, 2004).”
The unanticipated resilience of trait self-knowledge in the face of neural damage
Klein, S. B., & Lax, M. L. (2010) · Memory · doi:10.1080/09658211.2010.524651 · Cited by 167 · see citing works
“This assumption was based, in part, on the finding that definition generation successfully had been used as a control task in many self-reference effect studies (for an extensive review of work on self-referent recall, see Symons & Johnson, 1997 ).”
Method
Age differences in memory for arousing and nonarousing emotional words.
Kensinger, E. (2008) · The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · doi:10.1093/geronb/63.1.p13 · Cited by 165 · see citing works
“I thank Anne Krendl for helpful discussions and for comments on an earlier version of this manuscript.”
Background
Priming a New Identity: Self-Monitoring Moderates the Effects of Nonself Primes on Self-Judgments and Behavior.
DeMarree, K. G., Wheeler, S. C., & Petty, R. E. (2005) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.89.5.657 · Cited by 168 · see citing works
“Because self-relevant processing is deeper (e.g., Symons & Johnson, 1997), high private self-consciousness individuals could exhibit larger priming effects due to greater activation of the primed construct, rather than due to greater change in the self-concept.”
Background
The contribution of autobiographical significance to semantic memory: evidence from Alzheimer’s disease, semantic dementia, and amnesia
Westmacott, R., Black, S. E., Freedman, M., & Moscovitch, M. (2003) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/s0028-3932(03)00147-7 · Cited by 169 · see citing works
Distributed self in episodic memory: neural correlates of successful retrieval of self-encoded positive and negative personality traits
Fossati, P., Hevenor, S. J., Lepage, M., Graham, S. J., Grady, C. L., Keightley, M., Craik, F. I. M., & Mayberg, H. S. (2004) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2004.03.034 · Cited by 167 · see citing works
The effects of active learning on students' memories for course content
Cherney, I. D. (2008) · Active Learning in Higher Education · doi:10.1177/1469787408090841 · Cited by 169 · see citing works
The Psychology of Tailoring‐Ingredients in Computer‐Tailored Persuasion
Dijkstra, A. (2008) · Social and Personality Psychology Compass · doi:10.1111/j.1751-9004.2008.00081.x · Cited by 164 · see citing works
On the plasticity of the survival processing effect.
Kroneisen, M., & Erdfelder, E. (2011) · Journal of Experimental Psychology Learning Memory and Cognition · doi:10.1037/a0024493 · Cited by 161 · see citing works
The mnemonic advantage of processing fitness-relevant information
Kang, S. H. K., McDermott, K. B., & Cohen, S. M. (2008) · Memory & Cognition · doi:10.3758/mc.36.6.1151 · Cited by 161 · see citing works
Organisational change and employee turnover
Morrell, K., Loan‐Clarke, J., & Wilkinson, A. J. (2004) · Personnel Review · doi:10.1108/00483480410518022 · Cited by 159 · see citing works
“), which is associated with particularly elaborate and detailed recall ( Symons and Johnson, 1997”
Background
Effect of Private Self-Awareness on Negative Affect and Self-Referent Attribution: A Quantitative Review
Fejfar, M. C., & Hoyle, R. H. (2000) · Personality and Social Psychology Review · doi:10.1207/s15327957pspr0402_02 · Cited by 159 · see citing works
A meta-meta-analysis: Empirical review of statistical power, type I error rates, effect sizes, and model selection of meta-analyses published in psychology
Cafri, G., Kromrey, J. D., & Brannick, M. T. (2010) · Multivariate Behavioral Research · doi:10.1080/00273171003680187 · Cited by 156 · see citing works
Memory and the self in autism
Lind, S. E. (2010) · Autism · doi:10.1177/1362361309358700 · Cited by 158 · see citing works
From chair to "chair": A representational shift account of object labeling effects on memory.
Lupyan, G. (2008) · Journal of Experimental Psychology General · doi:10.1037/0096-3445.137.2.348 · Cited by 154 · see citing works
The Power of Brand Selfies
Hartmann, J., Heitmann, M., Schamp, C., & Netzer, O. (2021) · Journal of Marketing Research · doi:10.1177/00222437211037258 · Cited by 184 · see citing works
“…to their own personal experiences in brand selfies can generate higher levels of cognitive elaboration and mental simulation of brand consumption (Bower and Gilligan 1979; Escalas 2007), which has been linked to higher levels of brand engagement (Elder and Krishna 2012; Symons and Johnson 1997).”
Background
Self-Endorsing Versus Other-Endorsing in Virtual Environments
Ahn, S. J., & Bailenson, J. N. (2011) · Journal of Advertising · doi:10.2753/joa0091-3367400207 · Cited by 152 · see citing works
Virtually True: Children's Acquisition of False Memories in Virtual Reality
Segovia, K. Y., & Bailenson, J. N. (2009) · Media Psychology · doi:10.1080/15213260903287267 · Cited by 146 · see citing works
“The personal focus involved in the media richness criteria is influential in the memory process because it causes humans to self-reference; people encode more attributes when they are engaged in self-referent processing than other types of processing (Symons & Johnson, 1997).”
Background
Delineating self-referential processing from episodic memory retrieval: Common and dissociable networks
Sajonz, B., Kahnt, T., Margulies, D. S., Park, S. Q., Wittmann, A., Stoy, M., Ströhle, A., Heinz, A., Northoff, G., & Bermpohl, F. (2010) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.01.087 · Cited by 144 · see citing works
“The finding of shared activations confirms our hypothesis of commonalities between SRP and EMR which was proposed based on theoretical considerations (Conway and Pleydell-Pearce, 2000; Gardiner, 2001; James, 1892), behavioral experiments (self reference effect; Rogers et al., 1977; Symons and Johnson, 1997), functiona…”
Self-referential processing of negative stimuli within the ventral anterior cingulate gyrus and right amygdala
Yoshimura, S., Ueda, K., Suzuki, S.-I., Onoda, K., Okamoto, Y., & Yamawaki, S. (2009) · Brain and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2008.07.010 · Cited by 140 · see citing works
“Several studies (Fossati et al., 2004; Symons & Johnson, 1997) have showed that the self-reference effect involves processes both at the encoding and retrieval phase.”
I, me, mine: Automatic attentional capture by self‐related stimuli
Alexopoulos, T., Dominique Muller, B., Ric, F., & Marendaz, C. (2012) · European Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1002/ejsp.1882 · Cited by 142 · see citing works
Amygdala Reactivity and Mood-Congruent Memory in Individuals at Risk for Depressive Relapse
Ramel, W., Goldin, P. R., Eyler, L. T., Brown, G. G., Gotlib, I. H., & McQuaid, J. R. (2007) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2006.05.004 · Cited by 140 · see citing works
“This variable has the advantage of controlling for group differences in overall rates of endorsement (Symons and Johnson 1997) and will henceforth be referred to as proportion self-referent recall.”
Background
Multimedia Learning with Animated Pedagogical Agents
Moreno, R. (2005) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511816819.032 · Cited by 140 · see citing works
Seeing yourself in a positive light: Brain correlates of the self-positivity bias
Watson, L. A., Dritschel, B., Obonsawin, M. C., & Jentzsch, I. (2007) · Brain Research · doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2007.03.049 · Cited by 140 · see citing works
Individual Differences in Autobiographical Memory
Palombo, D. J., Sheldon, S., & Levine, B. (2018) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2018.04.007 · Cited by 140 · see citing works
Retrospection Versus Anticipation: the Role of the Ad Under Retrospective and Anticipatory Self‐Referencing
Krishnamurthy, P., & Sujan, M. (1999) · Journal of Consumer Research · doi:10.1086/209550 · Cited by 139 · see citing works

The self-reference effect in memory: a meta-analysis. Psychol
Symons, C. S., & Johnson, B. T. (1997)
Self-citation
Elaboration, organization, and the self-reference effect in memory.
Klein, S. B., & Kihlstrom, J. F. (1986) · Journal of Experimental Psychology General · doi:10.1037//0096-3445.115.1.26 · Cited by 329 · see citing works
The elusive self: A meta-analytic review of the self-reference effect literature
Symons, C. S. (1992) · Syracuse University Libraries (Syracuse University)
Self-citation
Self-Referent Encoding Produces Superior Recognition Memory: A High-Powered Replication of the Self-Reference Effect
Thakur, N. (2026) · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · doi:10.5281/zenodo.22261070
The Self-Reference Effect in Incidental Memory: Elaboration, Organization, Rehearsal and Self-Complexity
Kreitler, S., & Singer, J. L. (1990) · Imagination Cognition and Personality · doi:10.2190/b940-56u6-henb-pa0q · Cited by 13 · see citing works

Authors: Symons, C. S., & Johnson, B. T.
Affiliations: Houghton University (US)
Corresponding author: Symons, Cynthia S.
ORCID: Johnson, Blair T.
Venue: Psychological Bulletin
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Published: 1997
Volume: 121
Issue: 3
Pages: 371-394
ISSN: 0033-2909 (ISSN-L)
1939-1455
DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.121.3.371
OpenAlex: W2167106897
Cited by: 1,361
References: 102
Citations by year: 2026: 61 · 2025: 56 · 2024: 79 · 2023: 63 · 2022: 76 · 2021: 105 · 2020: 69 · 2019: 76 · 2018: 72 · 2017: 69 · 2016: 65 · 2015: 65 · 2014: 58 · 2013: 71 · 2012: 53
FWCI: 2.71
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Locations: Psychological Bulletin (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
OpenCommons - UConn (University of Connecticut) (submittedVersion)
Funders: Syracuse University
National Institutes of Health (7k21mh001377-06)
National Institute of Mental Health (MH01377-01)
Topics: Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Identity, Memory, and Therapy
Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Functions and Memory
Keywords: self-reference effect, semantic encoding, elaborative processing, information organization, encoding strategies
MeSH terms: Adult, Attention, Child, Female, Humans, Male, Mental Recall, Self Concept, Verbal Learning

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