Cultural life scripts structure recall from autobiographical memory.

Berntsen, Dorthe

Rubin, David C

United States

2015-05-20T02:28:00Z

2004-04

Three classes of evidence demonstrate the existence of life scripts, or culturally shared representations of the timing of major transitional life events. First, a reanalysis of earlier studies on age norms shows an increase in the number of transitional events between the ages of 15 and 30 years, and these events are associated with narrower age ranges and more positive emotion than events outside this period. Second, 1,485 Danes estimated how old hypothetical centenarians were when they had been happiest, saddest, most afraid, most in love, and had their most important and most traumatic experiences. Only the number of positive events showed an increase between the ages of 15 and 30 years. Third, undergraduates generated seven important events that were likely to occur in the life of a newborn. Pleasantness and whether events were expected to occur between the ages of 15 and 30 years predicted how frequently events were recorded. Life scripts provide an alternative explanation of the reminiscence bump. Emphasis is on culture, not individuals.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15285126

0090-502X

https://hdl.handle.net/10161/10111

eng

Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Mem Cognit

Adult

Aged

Aged, 80 and over

Autobiography as Topic

Cues

Culture

Female

Humans

Life Change Events

Male

Memory

Mental Recall

Middle Aged

Random Allocation

Surveys and Questionnaires

Time Perception

Cultural life scripts structure recall from autobiographical memory.

Journal article

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15285126

427

442

3

Duke

Duke Institute for Brain Sciences

Institutes and Provost's Academic Units

Psychology and Neuroscience

Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

University Institutes and Centers

Published

32