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Related Experiment Video

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Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Emotional Autobiographical Recollection
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Older adults show a self-reference effect for narrative information.

Nicole Carson1, Kelly J Murphy2,3, Morris Moscovitch2,3,4

  • 1a Department of Psychology , York University , Toronto , ON , Canada.

Memory (Hove, England)
|September 12, 2015
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Summary

The self-reference effect (SRE) enhances memory for both adjectives and narratives in young and older adults. This memory benefit extends to narrative recall and recognition, suggesting SRE as a potential intervention for age-related memory decline.

Keywords:
Cognitive agingmemorynarrativeretrieval experienceself-reference effect

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Human Development

Background:

  • The self-reference effect (SRE) demonstrates improved memory for self-related information.
  • Previous research established SRE using single trait adjectives in various age groups.
  • The generalizability of SRE to more complex narrative information remains less understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the self-reference effect (SRE) with narrative stimuli in young and older adults.
  • To examine retrieval experiences during recognition tasks.
  • To determine if stimulus valence differentially affects memory across age groups.

Main Methods:

  • Participants encoded trait adjectives and narratives under self-reference, semantic, or structural processing conditions.
  • Memory was assessed using tests of cued recall and recognition.
  • Two experiments were conducted, with the second employing an adapted narrative recognition test.

Main Results:

  • An SRE was observed for trait adjective recognition and narrative cued recall in both age groups.
  • An SRE for narrative recognition was confirmed in Experiment 2, overcoming ceiling effects from Experiment 1.
  • Self-referential encoding enhanced recollection for both material types, though Experiment 2 showed similar recollection for self-reference and semantic conditions.

Conclusions:

  • The self-reference effect extends to narrative information processing in both younger and older adults.
  • The findings suggest that self-referential encoding can be a valuable tool for enhancing memory.
  • This technique holds potential as an intervention for mitigating age-related memory decline.