Self-defining Memories in Normal Aging

Self-defining memories refer to events that are vivid, effectively intense, and include enduring concerns about oneself.

We investigated the relationship between the production of these memories in normal aging and the ability to integrate new information into existing knowledge in memory (i.e., updating).

Older participants were asked to perform an updating task as well as to retrieve autobiographical memories that were later analyzed for their self-defining relevance.

Analyses showed significant positive correlations between updating and the production of self-defining memories.

Updating our life story is an important psychological process,which enables us to refine and enrich our life story with new experiences, roles and/or challenges, and this ability seems to be related to the capacity to produce memories that draw on the pursuit of long-term goals, meaning making, emotional regulation, and/or activation of self-images (i.e., self-defining memories). These findings suggest that updating one's identity throughout life, at least in normal aging, may be related to the shaping and retrieval of self-defining memories, memories that lead to the creation of narrative scripts, which themselves serve as the ingredients for "chapters" across the lifespan.