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The frequency of voluntary and involuntary autobiographical memories across the life span.

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Date
2009-07
Authors
Rubin, David C
Berntsen, Dorthe
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Abstract
In the present study, ratings of the memory of an important event from the previous week on the frequency of voluntary and involuntary retrieval, belief in its accuracy, visual imagery, auditory imagery, setting, emotional intensity, valence, narrative coherence, and centrality to the life story were obtained from 988 adults whose ages ranged from 15 to over 90. Another 992 adults provided the same ratings for a memory from their confirmation day, when they were at about age 14. The frequencies of involuntary and voluntary retrieval were similar. Both frequencies were predicted by emotional intensity and centrality to the life story. The results from the present study-which is the first to measure the frequency of voluntary and involuntary retrieval for the same events-are counter to both cognitive and clinical theories, which consistently claim that involuntary memories are infrequent as compared with voluntary memories. Age and gender differences are noted.
Type
Journal article
Subject
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Aging
Association Learning
Attention
Auditory Perception
Culture
Emotions
Female
Humans
Imagination
Judgment
Life Change Events
Male
Mental Recall
Middle Aged
Young Adult
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/10079
Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.3758/37.5.679
Publication Info
Rubin, David C; & Berntsen, Dorthe (2009). The frequency of voluntary and involuntary autobiographical memories across the life span. Mem Cognit, 37(5). pp. 679-688. 10.3758/37.5.679. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/10079.
This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Scholars@Duke

Rubin

David C. Rubin

Juanita M. Kreps Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience
  For .pdfs of all publications click here  My main research interest has been in long-term memory, especially for complex (or "real-world") stimuli. This work includes the study of autobiographical memory and oral tra
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