ABSTRACT

Investigating the recall process of autobiographical memories (AMs) and, particularly, the order in which AMs are recalled has the potential to shed light on the organisation of autobiographical memory. However, research on order effects in the recall of AMs is relatively rare. Moreover, to date, no study addressed the question of where emotion fits into the organisation. The present study aimed to close this gap by examining whether emotional valence serves as one organising principle. Data come from 117 older adults (M = 74.11; SD = 7.06) who reported up to 39 AMs. The use of a multivariate multilevel model with autoregressive effects allows us to analyse the order effect within one person, as well as how the order effect differs between persons. The results replicated a temporal first-order effect that has been shown in previous studies and moreover, demonstrated a temporal second-order effect. Furthermore, our results indicated an emotional first-order effect that was even stronger than the temporal first-order effect and an emotional second-order effect. In addition, both first-order effects differed reliably between persons. Thus, the present study emphasises the need for considering emotion in current theoretical formulations of autobiographical memory and also of considering individual differences in the order of AMs recalled.

摘要

研究自传体记忆（AMs）的回忆过程，特别是回忆AMs的顺序有可能揭示自传体记忆的组织。然而，关于 AM 回忆中的顺序效应的研究相对较少。此外，迄今为止，还没有研究解决情绪在组织中的位置问题。本研究旨在通过检查情绪效价是否作为一种组织原则来缩小这一差距。数据来自 117 名老年人 ( M = 74.11; SD = 7.06) 谁报告了最多 39 个上午。使用具有自回归效应的多变量多级模型使我们能够分析一个人内部的顺序效应，以及顺序效应在不同人之间的差异。结果复制了先前研究中显示的时间一阶效应，此外，还证明了时间二阶效应。此外，我们的结果表明情绪一阶效应甚至比时间一阶效应和情绪二阶效应更强。此外，两种一阶效应在人与人之间可靠地不同。因此，本研究强调需要在当前的自传体记忆理论公式中考虑情绪，并在回忆的 AM 顺序中考虑个体差异。