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Updated: May 13, 2026
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Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Emotional Autobiographical Recollection
Published on: August 26, 2011
Operant conditioning of autobiographical memory retrieval.
Elise Debeer1, Filip Raes, J Mark G Williams
1a Department of Psychology , University of Leuven , Leuven , Belgium.
Memory (Hove, England)
|March 1, 2013
Summary
This study shows that autobiographical memory retrieval can be influenced by operant conditioning. However, the findings do not support the idea that overgeneral autobiographical memory (OGM) is a learned cognitive avoidance strategy.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Behavioral Psychology
Background:
- Overgeneral autobiographical memory (OGM) is often explained by functional avoidance.
- This theory posits OGM as a learned strategy to avoid emotionally painful memory retrieval.
- Operant conditioning principles are central to the functional avoidance account of OGM.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test if autobiographical memory retrieval can be controlled via operant conditioning.
- To examine the validity of the functional avoidance hypothesis for OGM.
Main Methods:
- Forty-one students participated in an experiment involving emotional cue words.
- Participants retrieved personal memories in response to cues.
- An operant conditioning procedure involved punishment (aversive sound) for specific or nonspecific memory retrieval.
Main Results:
- Memory specificity differed significantly between experimental conditions.
- Participants punished for nonspecific memories recalled more specific memories post-procedure.
- Memory specificity increased when participants were punished for specific memories, but did not decrease when punished for nonspecific memories.
Conclusions:
- Autobiographical memory retrieval demonstrates susceptibility to operant control.
- Findings do not support the functional avoidance theory as the primary mechanism for overgeneral autobiographical memory (OGM).
- Further research is needed to understand the complex mechanisms underlying OGM.
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