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Eye Movement Monitoring of Memory
08:06

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Published on: August 16, 2010

Looking back in time: self-concept change affects visual perspective in autobiographical memory.

Lisa K Libby1, Richard P Eibach

  • 1Department of Psychology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA. LKL3@cornell.edu

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
|February 8, 2002
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

When recalling past actions, people adopt a third-person perspective if those actions conflict with their current self-concept, influencing future behavior optimism.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Cognitive Science
  • Social Psychology

Background:

  • Individuals often perceive their past selves as distinct from their current identity.
  • Self-concept is a dynamic construct that evolves over time.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between self-concept compatibility and memory visualization perspective.
  • To examine how perspective-taking in memory recall influences future behavioral intentions.

Main Methods:

  • Correlational and experimental studies were conducted.
  • Participants visualized past actions and imagined future scenarios.
  • Self-concept compatibility and perspective (1st vs. 3rd person) were assessed.

Main Results:

  • Participants used a third-person perspective for memories conflicting with their current self-concept.
  • Imagining actions varying in self-concept compatibility also elicited a third-person perspective.
  • Third-person recall of overeating predicted optimism about future dietary behavior.

Conclusions:

  • On-line judgments of self-concept compatibility influence the perspective used in memory construction.
  • Perspective-taking in memory recall can impact cognitive and emotional responses to past actions.
  • Self-concept compatibility and causal attributions play a role in defining the self across time.