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Updated: Jul 26, 2025

Examining the Characteristics of Episodic Memory using Event-related Potentials in Patients with Alzheimer's Disease
Published on: August 30, 2011
Exploring Characteristics of Self-Defining Memories in Older Adults
Alain Fritsch1,2, Virginie Voltzenlogel1,2, Christine Cuervo-Lombard1,2
1Psychology Department, University of Toulouse 2 Jean-Jaurès, Toulouse, France.
Abstract:
The aim of this descriptive study was to investigate the Self-Defining Memories (SDMs) in a large sample of 181 older adults (65-90 years; mean age = 73.0 years) and to target the relationships between their different dimensions. The sampling method was nonprobabilistic, based on voluntary participation. Participants were asked to recall three SDMs. They also completed the Mini-Mental State Examination, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and a Self-esteem Scale. Almost half of the SDMs were specific and more than a quarter were integrated. Specificity, tension, redemption, contamination sequences, and affective response varied regarding thematic content. Specificity was positively correlated to tension whereas autobiographical reasoning was positively correlated to redemption and negatively linked to emotional response and depression. This research highlighted that identity is constituted by the main types of events that make up a life: interpersonal relationships, life-threatening events, achievement, and leisure.
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