Cited by 158Mental Health Research TopicsIdentity, Memory, and TherapyMemory Processes and Influences

Retrospective recall of affect in clinically depressed individuals and controls

Ben-Zeev, Dror, Young, Michael A., Madsen, Joshua W.·2009·Cognition & Emotion

Abstract

The current study examined the nature of retrospective recall of affect in depressed participants and nonclinical controls. Utilising the Experience Sampling Method, we compared average momentary affect reports to retrospective summaries of the same period of time. Both groups exhibited exaggerated retrospective summaries of positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA). Greater bias for PA than NA was found in the controls but not the depressed. Across groups, depressed individuals exhibited more absolute inaccuracy in their recall of NA but not PA. For depressed and nonclinical individuals, retrospective summaries of PA were better predicted by an average of all weekly momentary PA than a combination of the most intense (“peak”) PA and most recent (“end”) PA experiences. For nonclinical participants, retrospective NA was better predicted by an average of all weekly momentary NA. For depressed individuals, however, no clear advantage to predicting retrospective NA by average weekly NA relative to a combination of peak NA and end NA was found. Based on our findings, clinicians should realise that depressive cognition may not lie in recall that is less positive and more negative than “reality” but in retrospective intensifications of all affect that are, compared to normal, relatively greater for negative than for positive affect.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1080/02699930802607937

Cites

42 of 42 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Ben-Zeev, D., Young, M. A., & Madsen, J. W.
Affiliations
  • Illinois Institute of Technology (US)
  • VA San Diego Healthcare System (US)
Venue
Cognition & Emotion
Published
2009-08
Volume
23
Issue
5
Pages
1021-1040
ISSN
  • 0269-9931 (ISSN-L)
  • 1464-0600
OpenAlex
W1981738711
Cited by
158
References
40
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 8
FWCI
6.26
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
Cognition & Emotion (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Mental Health Research Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Identity, Memory, and Therapy
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
Keywords
depression, momentary affect, positive affect, negative affect, retrospective bias, emotional memory, depressive cognitions, ecological momentary assessment

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review