Variability of Momentary Pain Predicts Recall of Weekly Pain: A Consequence of the Peak (or Salience) Memory Heuristic
Abstract
Patients' recall of their recent pain is commonly assessed by both researchers and clinicians. However, concerns have been raised about differences between recalled pain and the average of real-time recordings of pain taken over the same period, in part because of the possibility that memory processes affect how retrospective pain is reported. It was hypothesized that memory processes affect the accuracy of recall, such that those with higher versus lower variability of real-time pain will recall pain at higher levels, relative to their average momentary pain. Sixty-eight chronic pain patients with rheumatologic conditions reported their pain several times a day for 2 weeks and also recalled their weekly pain at the end of each of those 2 weeks. The hypothesis was confirmed and it was concluded that variability of real-time pain affects the recall of pain.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
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?
Methodological studies of EMA of symptoms demonstrate that surveys relying on respondent recall, such as the baseline measures in this study, are biased toward peak (worst) and recent symptoms.
“Methodological studies of EMA of symptoms demonstrate surveys that rely on respondent recall, such as the baseline measures in this study, are biased toward peak (worst) and recent symptoms76–78; EMA ratings may provide a more valid estimate of true symptom intensity compared to standardized surveys.”
From Ecological momentary assessment of pain, fatigue, depressive, and cognitive symptoms reveals significant daily variability in multiple sclerosis (2017) · cites this paper as [76]
Cites
Self-reports: How the questions shape the answers.
Schwarz, N. (1999) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.54.2.93 · Cited by 2,846 · see citing works
Redelmeier, D. A., & Kahneman, D. (1996) · Pain · doi:10.1016/0304-3959(96)02994-6 · Cited by 1,078 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Ecological momentary assessment
Shiffman, S., Stone, A. A., & Hufford, M. R. (2008) · Annual Review of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.3.022806.091415 · Cited by 6,454 · see citing works
Self-citationEvaluation of Item Candidates: The PROMIS Qualitative Item Review
DeWalt, D. A., Rothrock, N., Yount, S., & Stone, A. A. (2007) · Medical Care · doi:10.1097/01.mlr.0000254567.79743.e2 · Cited by 719 · see citing works
Solhan, M. B., Trull, T. J., Jahng, S., & Wood, P. K. (2009) · Psychological Assessment · doi:10.1037/a0016869 · Cited by 362 · see citing works
Ecological momentary assessment methodology in chronic pain research: a systematic review
May, M., Junghaenel, D. U., Ono, M., Stone, A. A., & Schneider, S. (2018) · The Journal of Pain · doi:10.1016/j.jpain.2018.01.006 · Cited by 247 · see citing works
Self-citationPain and analgesia: the value of salience circuits
Borsook, D., Edwards, R., Elman, I., Becerra, L., & Levine, J. (2013) · Progress in Neurobiology · doi:10.1016/j.pneurobio.2013.02.003 · Cited by 215 · see citing works
Paterson, C., Robertson, A., Smith, A., & Nabi, G. (2015) · European Journal of Oncology Nursing · doi:10.1016/j.ejon.2014.12.007 · Cited by 182 · see citing works
Broderick, J. E., Schneider, S., Junghaenel, D. U., Schwartz, J. E., & Stone, A. A. (2013) · Arthritis Care & Research · doi:10.1002/acr.22025 · Cited by 158 · see citing works
Self-citationKratz, A. L., Davis, M. C., & Zautra, A. J. (2007) · Annals of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1007/bf02879911 · Cited by 143 · see citing works
Kratz, A. L., Murphy, S. L., & Braley, T. J. (2017) · Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation · doi:10.1016/j.apmr.2017.07.002 · Cited by 109 · see citing works
Moskowitz, D. S., Russell, J. J., Sadikaj, G., & Sutton, R. (2009) · Canadian Psychology / Psychologie canadienne · doi:10.1037/a0016625 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
Kikuchi, H., Yoshiuchi, K., Miyasaka, N., Ohashi, K., Yamamoto, Y., Kumano, H., Kuboki, T., & Akabayashi, A. (2006) · Cephalalgia · doi:10.1111/j.1468-2982.2006.01221.x · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Mofsen, A. M., Rodebaugh, T. L., Nicol, G. E., Depp, C. A., Miller, J. P., & Lenze, E. J. (2019) · JMIR Mental Health · doi:10.2196/11845 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Application of ecological momentary assessment in stress-related diseases
Yoshiuchi, K., Yamamoto, Y., & Akabayashi, A. (2008) · BioPsychoSocial Medicine · doi:10.1186/1751-0759-2-13 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Affective models of depression and anxiety: Extension to within-person processes in daily life
Naragon-Gainey, K. (2019) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2018.09.061 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Decentering Attenuates the Associations of Negative Affect and Positive Affect With Psychopathology
Naragon-Gainey, K., & DeMarree, K. G. (2017) · Clinical Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/2167702617719758 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Measuring Menstrual Discomfort: A Comparison of Interview and Diary Data
Jukic, A. M. Z., Weinberg, C. R., Baird, D. D., Hornsby, P. P., & Wilcox, A. J. (2008) · Epidemiology · doi:10.1097/ede.0b013e318187ac9e · Cited by 14 · see citing works
- Authors
- Stone, A. A., Schwartz, J. E., Broderick, J. E., & Shiffman, S. S.
- Affiliations
- Stony Brook University (US)
- University of Pittsburgh (US)
- Venue
- Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2005-10
- Volume
- 31
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 1340-1346
- ISSN
- 0146-1672 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-7433
- OpenAlex
- W2158679805
- Cited by
- 206
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 12 · 2012: 9
- FWCI
- 3.95
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Cancer Institute (R01CA085819, CA-85819)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Pain Mechanisms and Treatments
- Keywords
- pain recall, chronic pain, rheumatologic conditions, memory accuracy
- MeSH terms
- Chronic Disease, Humans, Pain, Pain Measurement, Surveys and Questionnaires, Mental Recall
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
