Belief and recollection of autobiographical memories
Open accessAbstract
In three experiments, undergraduates rated autobiographical memories on scales derived from existing theories of memory. In multiple regression analyses, ratings of the degree to which subjects recollected (i.e., relived) their memories were predicted by visual imagery, auditory imagery, and emotions, whereas ratings of belief in the accuracy of their memories were predicted by knowledge of the setting. Recollection was predicted equally well in between- and within-subjects analyses, but belief consistently had smaller correlations and multiple regression predictions between subjects; individual differences in the cognitive scales that we measured could not account well for individual differences in belief. In contrast, measures of mood (Beck Depression Index) and dissociation (Dissociative Experience Scale) added predictive value for belief, but not for recollection. We also found that highly relived memories almost always had strong visual images and that remember/know judgments made on autobiographical memories were more closely related to belief than to recollection.
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The paper says episodic memory can be divided into component processes such as subjective time, self-processing, imagery, semantic retrieval, multimodal detail, and familiarity.
“Thus episodic memory recall can be conceptually divided into a number of component processes including a sense of subjective time (Tulving, 2002), self-processing (Conway and Pleydell-Pearce, 2000), visual imagery (Rubin et al., 2003), narrative structure (Rubin et al., 2003), retrieval of semantic information (Wheeler et al., 1997) and multi-modal details (Wheeler et al., 2000; Gottfried et al., 2004), and feelings of familiarity (Wagner et al., 2005).”
From Using Imagination to Understand the Neural Basis of Episodic Memory (2007) · cites this paper as Rubin et al., 2003
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- Authors
- Rubin, D. C., Schrauf, R. W., & Greenberg, D. L.
- Affiliations
- Duke University (US)
- Northwestern University (US)
- Aarhus University (DK)
- Corresponding author
- Rubin, David C.
- Venue
- Memory & Cognition
- Published
- 2003-09
- Volume
- 31
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 887-901
- ISSN
- 0090-502X (ISSN-L)
- 1532-5946
- OpenAlex
- W2065247877
- Cited by
- 612
- References
- 9
- Citations by year
- 2026: 33 · 2025: 27 · 2024: 33 · 2023: 36 · 2022: 32 · 2021: 42 · 2020: 44 · 2019: 32 · 2018: 30 · 2017: 37 · 2016: 31 · 2015: 27 · 2014: 31 · 2013: 20 · 2012: 26
- FWCI
- 4.30
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Memory & Cognition (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DukeSpace (Duke University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Funders
- National Institute on Aging (R01AG016340)
- 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
- autobiographical memory, recollection, memory beliefs, memory confidence, visual imagery, auditory imagery, emotions, mood, depression, dissociation, remember-know judgments, individual differences
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Autobiographies as Topic, Culture, Female, Humans, Male, Mental Recall
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