ABSTRACT

Drawing at encoding has been shown to improve later recall of to-be-remembered words, pictures, and academic terms, compared to when one simply writes out the target information. Here we examined whether drawing in a diary, compared to writing in it, differentially improved later memorability of personal autobiographical events, and whether aging influenced the magnitude of this effect. Thirty younger and thirty older adults were given a diary booklet, and instructed to use it to reminisce about a random daily event of their choosing, on 12 days within a two-week period. They recorded the event on each day in one of two ways, counterbalanced within-subject: by writing about or by drawing a picture of the event. Participants also generated a keyword descriptor for each event. After the two-week period, participants were cued using their keyword descriptors to recall each autobiographical memory by writing it down. Self-reported match accuracy, between reminisced and recalled events was tabulated. Across age groups, match accuracy was significantly higher for those drawn than written during the reminiscing phase. In addition, we compared the word count, level of detail, visual imagery, and point of view of the recalled memories. Self-reports of the level of detail in the recalled memory were better maintained for events drawn compared to written during the reminiscing stage, and better maintained in older than younger adults. Our findings suggest the use of drawing, while reminiscing within a diary format, enhances accuracy and quality of later recollections.

摘要

与简单地写出目标信息相比，在编码时绘图已被证明可以提高以后对要记住的单词、图片和学术术语的回忆。在这里，我们研究了与写日记相比，写日记是否会不同程度地提高个人自传事件的日后记忆力，以及衰老是否会影响这种影响的程度。30 名年轻人和 30 名老年人收到了一本日记本，并被要求在两周内的 12 天里用它来回忆他们选择的随机日常事件。他们每天以两种方式之一记录事件，在主题内进行平衡：通过写下事件或画出事件的图片。参与者还为每个事件生成一个关键字描述符。经过两周的时间，参与者被提示使用他们的关键词描述符通过写下来回忆每个自传记忆。列出了回忆和回忆事件之间自我报告的匹配准确性。在各个年龄组中，在回忆阶段绘制的匹配准确率明显高于书写的匹配准确率。此外，我们还比较了回忆的字数、详细程度、视觉意象和观点。与在回忆阶段写下的事件相比，在回忆记忆中自我报告的细节水平更好地保持，并且在老年人中比年轻人保持得更好。我们的研究结果表明，在以日记形式回忆的同时，使用绘画可以提高日后回忆的准确性和质量。列出了回忆和回忆事件之间自我报告的匹配准确性。在各个年龄组中，在回忆阶段绘制的匹配准确率明显高于书写的匹配准确率。此外，我们还比较了回忆的字数、详细程度、视觉意象和观点。与在回忆阶段写下的事件相比，在回忆记忆中自我报告的细节水平更好地保持，并且在老年人中比年轻人保持得更好。我们的研究结果表明，在以日记形式回忆的同时，使用绘画可以提高日后回忆的准确性和质量。列出了回忆和回忆事件之间自我报告的匹配准确性。在各个年龄组中，在回忆阶段绘制的匹配准确率明显高于书写的匹配准确率。此外，我们还比较了回忆的字数、详细程度、视觉意象和观点。与在回忆阶段写下的事件相比，在回忆记忆中自我报告的细节水平更好地保持，并且在老年人中比年轻人保持得更好。我们的研究结果表明，在以日记形式回忆的同时，使用绘画可以提高日后回忆的准确性和质量。我们比较了回忆的字数、详细程度、视觉意象和观点。与在回忆阶段写下的事件相比，在回忆记忆中自我报告的细节水平更好地保持，并且在老年人中比年轻人保持得更好。我们的研究结果表明，在以日记形式回忆的同时，使用绘画可以提高日后回忆的准确性和质量。我们比较了回忆的字数、详细程度、视觉意象和观点。与在回忆阶段写下的事件相比，在回忆记忆中自我报告的细节水平更好地保持，并且在老年人中比年轻人保持得更好。我们的研究结果表明，在以日记形式回忆的同时，使用绘画可以提高日后回忆的准确性和质量。