Whose life is it anyway? Adoption of each other's autobiographical memories by twins

Abstract

Anecdotal evidence suggests that twins may dispute ownership of autobiographical experiences. We investigated the frequency and characteristics of such disputed memories in comparison to memories with undisputed ownership. In the present study, monozygotic twins (MZ), dizygotic twins (DZ), and siblings were asked to remember disputed and non-disputed memories. They also dated each memory and provided a rating on the following variables: level of imagery, detail, rehearsal, and importance. Results showed that disputed memories were more common among MZ twins than in DZ twins and siblings. The frequencies of undisputed memories were not different among the three groups. When compared to non-disputed memories, disputed memories were more likely to come from events experienced during preschool years. We consider disputed memories as instances of false memories, at least partly influenced by social interactional processes, and event characteristics. Copyright (C) 2003 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.