Retrieval of personal memories: a descriptive study

Abstract

A study was conducted to describe the experience of retrieval from autobiographical memory. Sixty participants who were students in a psychology course were cued by 30 cuewords and responded to items about various characteristics of memories. These responses enabled us to describe characteristics of retrieval and to investigate the relationship between them. The variables describing memories were combined in two factors. One of the factors was about reliving and the other factor was the significance of the event. According to the first factor, there were high correlations among levels of reliving, imagery, emotions, narrative coherence, and the confidence in the realness of the event and these characteristics tended to decrease as time since the event vent and rehearsal, were low, the correlations between importance and rehearsal was high. These results imply that with time, emotions and images related to an event fade and even though important events are rehearsed more often, they do not necessarily entail higher levels of imagery or emotion.