ABSTRACT

We investigated the effect of second language use on the experienced vividness and emotionality of negative autobiographical memories. Fifty native Swedish speakers with English as their second language were asked to recall a negative episodic memory from their past in their native language. Half the participants were then asked to reactivate the same memory in their first language while the other half were asked to reactivate it in their second language, and then rate their experienced vividness and emotionality a second time. Following this reactivation, experienced emotionality was reduced for both groups of participants, with a similar magnitude of reduction for both groups. Experienced vividness, however, was only reduced for the group who reactivated the memory in their second language. No difference in intrusion frequency was found between the groups at a one-week follow-up. The results provide increased insight into how a second language can affect the experienced emotionality and vividness of a negative autobiographical memory.

摘要

我们调查了第二语言的使用对消极自传体记忆的生动体验和情绪化的影响。五十名以英语为第二语言的瑞典母语人士被要求用母语回忆过去的负面情景记忆。然后，一半的参与者被要求用他们的第一语言重新激活相同的记忆，而另一半则被要求用他们的第二语言重新激活它，然后第二次评估他们所经历的生动性和情感。在重新激活之后，两组参与者的情绪情绪都降低了，两组的降低幅度相似。然而，只有那些用第二语言重新激活记忆的组才会减少体验的生动性。在为期一周的随访中，未发现各组之间的入侵频率存在差异。结果提供了对第二语言如何影响负面自传体记忆的体验情绪和生动性的更多见解。