We compared young adults’ autobiographical (AB) memories involving Music to memories concerning other specific categories and to Everyday AB memories with no specific cue. In all cases, participants reported both their most vivid memory and another AB memory from approximately the same time. We analyzed responses via quantitative ratings scales on aspects such as vividness and importance, as well as via qualitative thematic coding. In the initial phase, comparison of Music-related to Everyday memories suggested all Musical memories had high emotional and vividness characteristics whereas Everyday memories elicited emotion and other heightened responses only in the “vivid” instruction condition. However, when we added two other specific AB categories (Dining and Holidays) in phase two, the Music memories were no longer unique. We offer these results as a cautionary tale: before concluding that music is special in its relationship to cognition, perception, or emotion, studies should include appropriate control conditions.

中文翻译：

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音乐自传的回忆特别吗？不一定是这样

我们将涉及音乐的年轻人的自传（AB）记忆与其他特定类别的记忆进行了比较，并与没有特定提示的Everyday AB记忆进行了比较。在所有情况下，参与者都同时报告了他们最生动的记忆和另一个AB记忆。我们通过定量评分标准对生动性和重要性等方面以及定性主题编码进行了分析。在初始阶段，与音乐相关的记忆与日常记忆的比较表明，所有音乐记忆都具有很高的情感和生动性，而日常记忆仅在“生动”的教学条件下才引起情感和其他增强的反应。但是，当我们在第二阶段添加其他两个特定的AB类（用餐和假期）时，音乐记忆不再是唯一的。